


A Week (to fall in love)

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Aged-up/Aged-down characters, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, and some angst, because everything I touch becomes angst apparently, ongniel-centric, supposedly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-24 03:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12004407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze
Summary: Kang Daniel is a second year notorious for dating anyone who asks him out at start of the week, and then breaking up with them after 7 days. Seongwoo doesn't remember waking up on Monday asking to get caught up in this mess.Inspired by the premise in the manga, "7 Days"





	1. Monday

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> This is the beginning of a week-long project. 
> 
> Just as the story runs for the span of one week, the corresponding 'day' will be posted as we go along before midnight.

“Hey, Seongwoo, let’s order jajangmyeon for lunch!”

 

Seongwoo looked up from his notes with a raised eyebrow as the second year waltzed into their classroom like he owned it, “Will they deliver to our campus?”

 

Jaehwan’s answer is a wild cackle that used to send a shiver down their spines, but after a year of living with someone who laughed like that at everything, Seongwoo has learned to tamp down the feeling of doom and the urge to bolt out of his seat away from the incoming insanity sure to follow. Jaehwan’s laugh cuts off when Youngmin reaches over and shoves him off the chair, ignoring the indignant ‘hey!’ and claiming the vacated seat.

 

“What he means is we can pick it up at the gates. You in?”

 

Seongwoo shrugged, “Yeah, sure. I didn’t bring any food anyways.”

 

Getting to his feet, Jaehwan plants his ass on top of Seongwoo’s desk, crushing his notes. He looms in closer, peering at Seongwoo with a quizzical frown, “Actually, don’t you have to eat lunch with your girlfriend?”

 

The male in question shrugs carelessly, throwing his pen down now that there was no way he could do his work, “Not anymore I don’t.”

 

“What? Don’t tell me you broke up already.”

 

Seongwoo laughs, “Just yesterday actually.”

 

Youngmin sighs, “Again? Didn’t you just start dating three weeks ago?”

 

“They all get tricked by his face,” Jaehwan declares off-handedly, digging through Seongwoo’s pencil case.

 

“It’s not my fault they all build up some insane idea of what I’m like based on my looks,” Seongwoo shoots back, snatching the pencil case out of Jaehwan’s hands, “What are you even looking for?”

 

“Your compact, I want to borrow it,” Jaehwan responds, making grabbing motions even as Seongwoo leans back to hold it out of his reach, “Dongho _hyung_ said my face looked oily earlier. It seems to work for you, fork it over!”

 

“I’m sorry to inform you of this, Kim Jaehwan-ssi,” Seongwoo intones seriously, looking Jaehwan dead in the eye, “but a compact isn’t going to help you look like me, you need to be born with this.”

 

“You see?” Jaehwan makes a disgusted sound and looks over at Youngmin while gesturing wildly at Seongwoo, “This is why people keep breaking up with you, the things that come out of that pretty mouth. Your personality doesn’t match your face at all, it’s practically a scam!”

 

Seongwoo rolled his eyes, “Like I said, not my problem if people can’t learn not to judge a book by its cover.”

 

“The cover of the book is supposed to give you an idea of the contents,” Jaehwan shoots back, nabbing Woodam’s chair when the other boy got up to use the washroom, “You? You’re just false advertising all the way. Ah, that face is wasted on you. Fix your attitude!”

 

Before Seongwoo can respond and scold Jaehwan for being disrespectful to his _hyung_ or Youngmin can interfere to stop the age-old argument, they’re cut off by screams from outside the window. Peering outside, Seongwoo whistles at the droves of girls crowding around their school gates. “What the hell is going on? Is there an idol visiting?”

 

“Oh that, it’s Monday right? They’re probably waiting for Daniel,” Youngmin answers, munching on a pepero stick.

 

“Who?” Seongwoo frowned, accepting one of the chocolate-coated snacks when Youngmin held the pack out to him.

 

“Kang Daniel? Aren’t you in the dance club with him?”

 

Seongwoo thinks for a moment, trying to recall exactly whom they were talking about. Dance, dance…oh, that’s right, the tall second year who was learning how to b-boy. He was definitely popular, good looking too he supposed; there were always girls and boys alike crowding at the door, staring through the tiny window and whispering on the days they watched him practice. “Yeah, but we’re not close. That punk doesn’t even show up for club activities half the time. Is he famous or something?”

 

Youngmin turned away from the window to stare at Seongwoo quizzically and Jaehwan is quick to swoop in and claim the pack of pepero sticks as his own. “You haven’t heard? If you’re the first one to ask Daniel out on a Monday, he’ll go out with you.”

 

Seongwoo’s eyebrows creep towards his hairline, hidden behind his bangs, “What?”

 

Jaehwan laughs at his incredulous tone, “Yeah, he says yes and then for a week, he’s the perfect boyfriend. So all the girls line up hoping to be the first one to catch him when he comes in to school. Some guys too.”

 

“Just for a week? Is it like, a contract or something?”

 

His friends shrug, “Who knows? But at the end of every week, he’ll say something like ‘Sorry, I wasn’t able to fall in love with you’, and then they’ll break up and someone else asks him out on Monday and it starts all over again.”

 

“Weird, and people are into that?”

 

“Hey,” Jaehwan crumbled up the pepero stick wrapper and chucks it at the garbage, sticking his tongue out at Youngmin who laughs as it misses the trash can entirely, “They date _you_ don’t they? Besides, he’s the _perfect_ boyfriend for that week. Who wouldn’t want that?”

 

Seongwoo looks at Jaehwan suspiciously, eyes squinting at he leans forward across the desk separating them, “You sound a bit _too_ familiar with this……did you date him?”

 

Jaehwan grins shamelessly. “Yup,” he announced, popping his words, “One week back in May, it was amazing.”

 

“What is the point in even dating someone just for a week? Or dating someone that you know will break up with you. It’s all pretend, isn’t it?”

 

“Psh, I don’t need forever,” Jaehwan scoffs and leans back in his stolen chair, balancing on the two hind legs, “A week is just long enough to fulfill a fantasy, you know? He opens doors, pulls out chairs for you, pays for meals, the works. Who doesn’t want a gentleman for a week?”

 

Seongwoo grimaces at his friend’s dreamy sigh, turning to look at Youngmin who just shrugged and went back to ordering their food. “Riiiight, didn’t know you’re into living an otome game out in real life. But if you’re into that I guess.”

 

“You don’t get to talk, you serial scam artist.”

 

The taller boy just rolls his eyes and pushes his back, getting to his feet and stretching lazily, “Whatever, I’m going to go down and wait for the delivery. I need some fresh air away from your stench.”

 

“I’ll have you know, I smell _amazing_ ,” Jaehwan screams after him, ignoring Youngmin’s frantic attempts to shush him in case a teacher came by to see what the commotion was about, “I smell better than any of you! You should be grateful you were even blessed to breathe in air that smells like me!”

 

Seongwoo just raised his hand in a lazy backwards wave and kept walking until Jaehwan’s screeching finally fades and his ears stopped ringing. By the time he reaches the gates, the crowd is starting to disperse with disappointed hopefuls leaving in small groups murmuring to themselves about how Daniel was probably sick if he still wasn’t showing up and they’d try their luck tomorrow morning instead. Shaking his head, Seongwoo settled down on the curb, leaning backwards against his hands and tilting his face towards the sun with a sigh.

 

The sunlight is warm on his face and with his eyes closed, if he tries hard enough, he can pretend he’s relaxing somewhere nice instead of on the lawn in front of his school. The revving of a motorcycle drawing closer before coming to a stop in front of him has Seongwoo sitting up again, anticipating the deliveryman.

 

But alas, there’s no silver box attached to the back of this motorcycle. The rider pulls off his helmet to reveal tousled ash blond hair and Seongwoo rests his chin on his knees in disappointment, “Oh, it’s just you.”

 

The figure swings his leg over and off the bike and blinks down at Seongwoo curiously, “Oh, _hyung_ , what are you doing here?”

 

“I’m waiting for a jajangmyeong delivery; what are you doing, coming to school so late?”

 

Daniel just laughs; on him the sound is a full body affair, shaking broad shoulders and scrunching up his handsome face into something cute and charming. “Ah, _hyung_ , don’t nag like that.”

 

The other boy plops himself down next to Seongwoo with a bright grin that he maintains even in the face of Seongwoo’s dispassionate stare. “Are we really close enough for you to be calling me _hyung_?” he questions, “I don’t need the kind of _dongsaeng_ who’s irresponsible and never shows up to practice.”

 

“Wow, so harsh!” his underclassman exclaims, “Does anyone ever tell you your cutting words are unexpected?”

 

He shrugs, “You just have to deal with it, it’s not like I’m lying anyways. You’ve shown up for practice all of what? Three times in the past four months?”

 

Daniel laughs, seemingly unaffected by Seongwoo scolding him. Seongwoo closes his eyes again, having nothing else to say to the boy beside him, while Daniel lingers, content to follow his example and bask in the sunshine. The two sit in silence, listening to the traffic nearby and the more distant chatter of other students enjoying their lunch break, lazing on the sun-warmed grass.

 

“Hey,” Seongwoo peaks at Daniel lazily with a partially opened eye, “Do you really do that thing?”

 

Daniel rolls over onto his side to face Seongwoo, head tilting at the question, “What thing?”

 

“I heard you date whoever asks you out for a week and then dump them. Is it true?”

 

“Ah!” he laughed sheepishly, “That, wow, I didn’t know the third years knew too.”

 

“Huh,” Seongwoo closes his eye again and turns away, “So it’s true then. Doesn’t it get tiring, this kind of game?”

 

“Ah, _hyung_ , it’s not really a game. It’s more like, trying to find someone who can make me feel something, you know?”

 

“Sounds like a game to me,” he sat up, yawning and stretching his neck, letting the joints crack satisfyingly, “So who are you dating this week?”

 

Seongwoo watches as Daniel rubs at the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed, “No one, I mean, no one’s asked me yet this week.”

 

The younger man’s features are highlighted nicely in the sunlight, and Seongwoo thinks he can see where the appeal might be. He’s certainly experienced more than his share of people who only chase after pretty things, thinking as long as a person was good looking it must be enough. Though what was in it for Daniel, really, Seongwoo couldn’t tell. He was good looking and didn’t seem like he was secretly crazy, he had to be a decent boyfriend if so many people lined up to date him even just for a week. He should have no problem getting someone to date him long-term, so what was it?

 

“What about me?” he asks, impulsive shoving the words out of his mouth before he can stop to reconsider, to think better of acting on his idle curiosity.

 

Daniel’s smile falters for the first time. “W-what?”

 

“If you’re not dating anyone this week, then how about me?” Seongwoo offers with an impish grin, “You don’t care who, and it’s just for one week, right? So how about dating me?”

 

“A-ah, _hyung_!” Daniel stammers, his fair skin flushing though whether it was the heat getting to him or embarrassment, Seongwoo doesn’t know.

 

The older boy throws his head back with a laugh, “No good, right? Ah, that’s okay.”

 

“I–”

 

“Oh, delivery is here! Sweet, I was getting hungry.”

 

He gets to his feet, stepping forward to greet the deliveryman and accept the bowls of noodles and container of side dishes. Patting himself down, he groans, “Ah shit, I left my wallet back in the classroom.”

 

A hand reaches over his shoulder to hand a stack of bank notes to the deliveryman. “Keep the change,” Daniel’s deep voice sounds right next to his ear and Seongwoo turns to see the younger standing right behind him.

 

“Oh, thanks for the save Daniel, I’ll pay you back later. Which class are you in?”

 

“2-A,” his dongsaeng responds, wheeling his motorcycle beside him and following Seongwoo’s trek back towards their school building, stopping only to drop off his motorcycle at a an empty space in the parking lot.

 

“Ah, I’m in 3-A. Well, I’ll give the money to you during break or something,” Seongwoo calls over his shoulder as he starts up the stairs, eager to start eating, “Later!”

 

“Okay,” Daniel says quietly, standing at the base of the stairs with a smile, “I’ll see you later _hyung_.”

 

* * *

 

 

Seongwoo is taking down the last of the notes after their fifth period ends, eyes intent on the chalkboard, when someone taps him on his shoulder. “Hey, Seongwoo,” Youngmin gestures behind him, “There’s someone looking for you.”

 

Seongwoo looks up to see Daniel’s smiling face in the doorway, the younger boy waving at him cheerily. Behind him, his fans are lurking, huddled in small groups and whispering to themselves behind their hands. “Oh, right,” he stands, bending over and rummaging through his bag for his wallet.

 

“What’s he doing here?” Youngmin asks, curious, “I thought you said you guys weren’t close?”

 

“We’re not, I forgot my wallet when I went to grab the jajangmyeon and he spot me for it. He’s just here because I need to pay him back.”

 

Ambling over to where Daniel is standing, Seongwoo pulls a couple of bills out from his wallet. “Hey, sorry you had to make the trip upstairs,” he says with a smile, handing the bills to Daniel, “Thanks for earlier.”

 

“Ah,” Daniel blinks, accepting the bills and folding them up, “No problem _hyung_. Hey, do you have your cellphone with you?”

 

“Huh?” Seongwoo frowns before reaching to dig it out of his pocket, “Yeah, I do, why?”

 

“Let’s exchange numbers!” Daniel announces brightly, eyes curved into twin crescents, “I only realized after I got to class that I don’t have _hyung’s_ number.”

 

Seongwoo snorts, handing over his phone reluctantly when Daniel refuses to budge and just keeps _smiling_ at him. “Why would you have my number? I told you, we’re not that close.”

 

“But if I have your number then we can get closer, right?” Daniel laughs at his own words as if they were brilliant and Seongwoo sighs, taking his phone back from Daniel, “I texted myself from your phone so I have your number, that’s okay right?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Seongwoo rocked back on his heels, the motion lazy and languid, head cocked to the side.

 

He can hear some of the girls that had followed Daniel upstairs whispering now about how fitting it was that Daniel _oppa_ was friends with a cool and good looking upperclassman and suppresses a sigh. The last thing he needed was for Daniel’s fangirls to associate them with each other, or worse, start following him around as well.

 

“Get back to class already,” he turns to go back to his seat, only for Daniel’s hand to clamp down on his shoulder, “What?”

 

“Ah, _hyung_ , do you want to walk home together?”

 

Seongwoo stared at the unerringly bright smile Daniel presents to him, he’s pretty sure that expression is fake, there’s no way someone smiles at _everything_ like that. “Why would we walk home together?”

 

“But I want to get to know you better _hyung_!” the younger chirps as the bells rings to signal the end to their break.

 

“We have club activities, you brat,” Seongwoo reminds him, unimpressed, reaching over to poke Daniel’s forehead, “Just because you never show up doesn’t mean the rest of us are as unmotivated. Why don’t you try actually showing up for a change?”

 

“Okay! If _hyung_ wants me to come, I will!”

 

“If you’re not coming to actually practice, just don’t come then,” Seongwoo grouses, “And stop calling me so familiarly.”

 

“Ah, don’t be like that,” the younger pats Seongwoo on his chest as if to placate him, Seongwoo almost pulls back at the casual gesture, “I’ll see you at practice then _hyung_!”

 

Daniel turns and jogs towards the stairs with a wave before Seongwoo could protest the liberties he was taking. Sighing, he turned to head back to his desk, dropping into his seat and switching out his notebook for the next subject.

 

“What was that?” Youngmin whispers from behind him.

 

Seongwoo twisted in his seat to peer at his friend, “What was what? I told you he was getting his money back.”

 

“Doesn’t look like that was what he came for,” Youngmin points out, gesturing at the breast pocket of Seongwoo’s uniform jacket.

 

Sure enough, when Seongwoo looks down, neatly folded bills have been tucked into his pocket. Huh. So he just got treated to lunch by an underclassman. It was an odd feeling, not bad, just unusual. He shrugs indifferently, “I don’t know then, that punk is kind of weird. Who smiles all the time? It’s like his face doesn’t have an off switch.”

 

His friend snickers, “Only you would consider someone smiling weird.”

 

“I’m serious!” Seongwoo insists, “There’s no way he’s happy about everything and anything all the time. It’s just not natural.”

 

“Well, maybe that’s why people like to date him,” Youngmin points out, “It must be nice to be around someone who’s positive all the time, right?”

 

“It’d drive me insane,” Seongwoo deadpanned, “All that optimism, puppies, rainbows, and sunshine. Yuck. Get it away from me.”

 

“You know, if you’re ever going to convince everyone that your heart is charred black like your soul, you need to stop going out of your way to cheer up people who are upset,” Youngmin sniggers, “Every time you do that, you gain like, three more fans.”

 

The teacher enters before Seongwoo can protest that is he _not_ nice, or at least not nice and helpful in the way everyone expects him to be. Nice belongs to people like their class representative, Hwang Minhyun, or the student council president, Kim Jonghyun. Ong Seongwoo was all blunt truths and unapologetic self-esteem, nice wasn’t a descriptor that belonged to him.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the day is uneventful, Seongwoo’s hands cramp up at least twice trying to copy down all the notes before their teacher moves on. He doesn’t falter though; one of the stipulations from his parents allowing him to attend a high school catered to the arts was that his academics also had to be stellar. Still, he heaves a sigh of relief when their classes for the day end, eager to head to dance practice.

 

At the end of every day, getting to lose himself in the movement of the music made it worth the hours of studying and slaving away over projects into the early hours of the morning. He’s just stepping out of the change room when someone calls out to him.

 

“ _Hyung_! Seongwoo _hyung!_ ”

 

Standing in the doorway of the studio is Daniel, waving at him exuberantly, schoolbag slung over his shoulder. The tie on his uniform shirt is gone and the shirt itself is untucked, any faculty member or prefect who saw him now would surely scold him for his sloppy appearance but the more relaxed look suited him.

 

“You came,” Seongwoo acknowledges him with a slight nod, finally walking over towards the younger boy when he doesn’t stop bouncing on the balls of his feet and gesturing at Seongwoo wildly.

 

“Of course!” he beams, hair flopping back and forth against his forehead as he nods, “ _Hyung_ told me to come, how could I not?”

 

Seongwoo rolls his eyes, “Whatever, go get changed, practice starts in five minutes.”

 

Daniel just laughs sheepishly. “Ahahaha, I um, I don’t have a change of clothes,” he admits, “I wasn’t expecting to come to practice today so I didn’t bring it with me.”

 

The older raised an eyebrow skeptically, eyeing the uniform slacks that weren’t going to survive without rips after a b-boying session. “Right,” he motioned for Daniel to follow him, turning back towards the change room, “Come on, I have a pair of sweats you can borrow for today. We’re about the same height and the waist is elastic, you should be fine.”

 

“Okay!” Daniel bound after Seongwoo eagerly, “Ah, _hyung_ is the best after all, you take good care of your _dongsaengs_ , don’t you?”

 

“It’s called being responsible,” Seongwoo declares, throwing the sweatpants at Daniel unceremoniously, “As vice-president of the dance club, making sure you guys are properly attired is one of my duties. The last thing I need is one of you getting injured on my watch, or ripping the seam of your pants and showing your underwear to the world. But responsibility clearly isn’t something a member of the club who doesn’t show up half the time understands.”

 

He leaves without a backwards glance, running over to make sure the sound system was working and greeting the other club members. Youngmin saunters in, dragging a reluctant first year with red hair dyed two shades darker than his own behind him. “Seongwoo-ah!” he calls, “This is Park Woojin, he just transferred to our school; we used to go to the same grade school and he’s great at dancing, but he’s a little shy. I can leave him in your hands, right? His skills are top-notch!”

 

“Ah, _hyung_ , stop, you’re embarrassing me,” the other boy whined, trying to pull his arm out of Youngmin’s unrelenting grip.

 

Seongwoo looks over the newcomer, taking in the worn out soles of his sneakers that spoke of hours of practice, the telltale scuff marks on his knees, and smiles. “Of course, anyone who’s passionate about dancing is always welcomed here!” he declares, throwing his arm around Woojin, “My name is Ong Seongwoo, third year, I run things here along with our president, Noh Taehyun. He’s a fourth year and talking to administration about funding, you’ll meet him later. Let me introduce you to everyone. Youngmin-ah, you’re not staying?”

 

“Not today,” the red head grins, patting Woojin on the back, “I have to meet up with my instructor from the dance school today.”

 

“That’s right, your audition is in two week, right? Okay, good luck, I’ll take care of Woojin, don’t worry.”

 

“I’ll leave him to you then,” Youngmin starts for the door with one last wave, “Woojin-ah, don’t be fooled by his face, he’s not cool at all. But don’t worry, this _hyung_ might have a shitty personality but he’s a good guy.”

 

“Yah!” Seongwoo protests, “Quit slandering me in front of the underclassman!”

 

Youngmin only sticks his tongue out and leaves in a light jog, ignoring Seongwoo who flips him off. Woojin stays standing stiffly beside him, clearly nervous about being left with a stranger in a room with even more strangers.

 

“ _Hyung_ , who’s this?”

 

Seongwoo turned his head to see Daniel dressed in the borrowed sweats, staring at Woojin who was still tucked against Seongwoo’s side with a stiff smile on his face. “Oh, Daniel, this is Park Woojin who will be joining us. Woojin, this is Kang Daniel, a second year. Don’t skip practice like him, okay?”

 

“Nice to meet you,” Woojin nods at Daniel, sticking close to Seongwoo as Daniel’s stare intensifies.

 

“Alright, let’s introduce you to the others and then get warmed up, okay?”

 

The rest of their group is quick to welcome Woojin into their midst, ooh-ing and aah-ing when he shows them a little of what he could do. Seongwoo has them all taking turns and showing off their specialties to break the ice before Taehyun returns to demonstrate the newest routine for them to learn. Woojin is hardworking and talented, the moves he executes are sharp and clean, but he’s clearly still young and learning.

 

When he dances, Seongwoo can see he’s still thinking too much, too conscious of having his limbs in exactly the right place, too caught up in what comes next. It could be the effects of puberty, Seongwoo muses, relearning your body after a growth spurt has tripped up more than one dancer. After the third time Woojin hesitates between transitions, Seongwoo strolls over to stop him with a gentle hand.

 

“Hey,” he starts softly, “You’ve got some great moves and your control is some of the best I’ve seen. But I’ve got a request, if you’re up to trying something a little different?”

 

Woojin nods silently, dark eyes wide and fixed on his _sunbae_ , breathing hard as sweat runs down his face. Seongwoo laughs lowly and reaches over to wipe away the sweat with his hand, unaware of how the group had stopped to take a break and half were watching them quietly. Daniel in particular was staring intently as Seongwoo pulled Woojin a little to the side.

 

“When the music comes on, I want you to just close your eyes and forget about the choreography for now. Just move however you want to move according to the music. Want to give that a shot?”

 

The younger nods hesitantly and Seongwoo smiles at him reassuringly, “We’ll do it together, how about that?”

 

At the other’s agreement, he jogs over to play the song again before running back to join Woojin. “Ready? 3, 2, 1, start!”

 

Woojin starts off timidly but then slowly picks up momentum and Seongwoo laughs in delight, dancing in counterpart to his _hoobae’s_ moves. This is what he loved the most about dance, feeling the music and just letting it flow through his body; now that Woojin wasn’t thinking so hard about the choreography, his movements were much smoother, the split-second pauses between transitions gone.

 

The red head opens his eyes to see Seongwoo’s grinning face as the other executed a complicated popping sequence, sharing in the other’s joy with a cute grin that showed off his snaggletooth.

 

“That’s the spirit!” Seongwoo called in encouragement as the song wound down, “It’s this feeling, see? You’re moving _with_ the music, not just to a beat. Hang on to this feeling when you’re dancing and you’re going to be amazing. You’ve already got the skills down, Woojin, so don’t think too hard when you’re dancing, okay?”

 

“I get it, thank you _sunbae-nim_!”

 

Seongwoo just waved him off, “No need to be so formal, you can just call me _hyung_ if anything.”

 

“Seongwoo _hyung_ then,” Woojin agreed with a shy smile.

 

The older claps him on a shoulder warmly, “Come on, let’s go back and join the rest of the group.”

 

Woojin nods but shrinks behind Seongwoo a bit at the intense stares of the spectators; the door to the practice room had been thrown open to let some air in during their break and the club’s ‘fans’ are crowded at the doorway, staring at Seongwoo and Woojin’s interaction with open curiousity. “Just ignore them,” Seongwoo advises under his breath, “They just like to gossip, but you’ve probably gained a couple of fans of your own now.”

 

“W-what?”

 

Seongwoo winked at him, “Cute and a good dancer? You’re definitely going to get admirers, just don’t get a big head about it.”

 

Woojin flushes almost as red as his hair at his _hyung_ ’s words, stammering out a denial that Seongwoo laughs at. Some of his fellow club members, a mix of second years and first years like him, drag Woojin into their circle to chat and Seongwoo heads off with a nod to speak with Taehyun.

 

“You’re lucky,” one of them remarks to Woojin, a tall weed of a boy by the name of Kwon Hyunbin, “I wish Seongwoo _hyung_ would teach _me_ one on one! He just tells me I’m a lost cause.”

 

Hyunbin’s friends snicker even as Woojin blushes at the attention. “That’s because the last couple of times he tried to teach you, you crawled into a corner after thirty minutes and fell asleep, claiming you were too tired, Hyunbin-ah,” Kim Taedong, a boy from Woojin’s class that usually hangs out with Seong Hyunwoo, points out, “Seongwoo _hyung_ doesn’t like slackers.”

 

“I wasn’t slacking!” Hyunbin whines, flopping his long limbs about in protest, “I was just really tired, my body wasn’t used to that much exercise!”

 

“Hey,” Woojin turns around as someone behind their little circle interjects; it’s the tall, broad shouldered boy from before, Kang Daniel.

 

“Are all of you allowed to call him _hyung_?” the other boy asks with a pout and a contemplative look on his face, “I got told off twice today for being overly familiar with him.”

 

“That’s probably because you’re too busy dating to ever come to practice, Daniel _hyung_ ; Seongwoo _hyung_ can’t stand slackers,” Eunki turns from his whispered conversation with JungJung to chime in, head lolling to the side lazily, “I’m surprised you haven’t been kicked out yet. And that you showed up today.”

 

Daniel laughs guiltily, “Seongwoo _hyung_ said the same thing; do you think he’ll let me call him _hyung_ if I come to practice more? I came today because he scolded me earlier.”

 

“He’s not going to go easy on you until you can prove you’re actually dedicated to the club,” Eunki retorts, seemingly unbothered that he was telling off his _hyung_ in front of everyone, “Coming because you got scolded doesn’t mean anything.”

 

They watch as Daniel nods decisively, “Okay, okay, I can do that.”

 

The members around Woojin exchange disbelieving looks, Eunki snorts outright. “If you say so,” Taedong remarks, clearly not trusting Daniel’s resolve.

 

When the other boy leaves, Woojin turns to his new friends, “Does Seongwoo _hyung_ not like Daniel _hyung_?”

 

“It’s not a matter of liking or not, they don’t even know each other that well,” Hyunbin explains, flopping backwards onto the ground lazily, “Daniel never really comes to practice and Seongwoo _hyung_ has never approved of that. _Hyung_ works hard at everything, you know? Not just being part of the dance club and leading it with Taehyun _hyung_ , he studies hard too; he consistently ranks in the top five of his year. Even so, people just write it off as him _naturally_ being good at everything because he ‘looks like the type’. So for Seongwoo _hyung_ , Daniel who doesn’t try hard and just seems to be fooling around with his pretty face is probably irritating to him, you know?”

 

“Wow, that was some speech,” Eunki remarks, “When did you get close enough to Seongwoo _hyung_ to know all of that or are you just making stuff up?”

 

“Hehe,” Hyunbin throws up a ‘v’ sign, “Hwang Minhyun is tutoring me in math and he’s close with Seongwoo _hyung,_ so he joins our study group sometimes. I hear a lot when he complains to Minhyun _hyung_.”

 

“Some people have all the luck, tutoring from Hwang Minhyun,” Eunki grumbles, “Next thing I know, you’ll tell me you’re close with Kim Jonghyun too.”

 

Hyunbin laughs nervously, “Actually…”

 

“Oh my god, get him away from me,” the first year exclaimed, “You’re ridiculously well connected. Actually, I don’t believe you, prove it!”

 

Hyunbin laughs so hard he fumbles his phone, dropping it two times before he successfully pulls up a proof-shot of his alleged friendship with their beloved student council president. It’s a selfie taken in a dimly lit hole-in-the-wall restaurant; Hyunbin is smiling broadly with Jonghyun’s arm thrown over his shoulders. In the background, Minhyun, Seongwoo, and Jaehwan can be seen posing with their food.

 

Eunki lurches forward to grab Hyunbin by the shoulders, shaking him wildly, “Kim Jaehwan too?! What is this sorcery?”

 

“I go to the same hagwon as them!” Hyunbin explains hastily, trying to escape Eunki’s vice-like grip, “Minhyun _hyung_ introduced us after he started tutoring me and then Seongwoo _hyung_ invited me to join them when they went to eat afterwards one night. So now I hang out with them sometimes.”

 

Woojin just looks around, confused, as Eunki lets out a war cry and tackles a screaming Hyunbin. “What’s going on?”

 

“Oh,” JungJung shakes his head at the two tussling beside him, “Don’t mind Eunki. You’re new so you probably don’t know what the fuss is about, but basically, Hyunbinie has just revealed that he’s good friends with a couple of the most popular guys in our school and never told us, so he’s freaking out a little.”

 

“Oh, are they a big deal?” Woojin asks, looking at Seongwoo who was laughing while gesturing animatedly with Taehyun with new eyes.

 

“You could say that, I guess?” JungJung muses, head propped on his palm, “They’re famous enough to have fans even outside our school; wait until Valentines Day and you’ll see. Last year, they were practically mobbed, couldn’t even get out the front gate. There are a couple others in their friend circle who’s also popular, and a few outside of it too of course, but it seems like Hyunbin’s well on his way to being part of their group.”

 

Woojin takes in how tall Hyunbin already is, how his baby fat is slowly melting off his face to reveal a sharp and attractive jawline, and nods. He can see Hyunbin fitting next to Seongwoo _hyung_ ’s wicked charm, though he hasn’t met this Hwang Minhyun and only saw Kim Jonghyun in passing at the student assembly last month.

 

“Alright guys, back to practice!” Seongwoo calls out and they all get to their feet, replacing the caps on water bottles hastily, “Let’s take it from the top!”

 

They’re at it for another two hours, stopping only when the floor length mirrors start to fog up with condensation as the temperature in the room rises beyond control. “Alright, that’s all for today, see you all Wednesday!” Taehyun announces, calling practice to a halt.

 

They break formation to pick up their towels and take long pulls of almost empty water bottles, some of them sitting down heavily against the walls while others stumble off towards the change rooms to shower. When Woojin finishes cleaning up and exits the change room, he’s surprised to find Seongwoo _hyung_ waiting for him by the door.

 

“Hey, you did great today,” and Woojin can’t help but stand a little taller at the praise, “I know you’re new to the school so you probably don’t know that many people yet, but do you want to join me and my friends? We were going to meet up for food after club activities.”

 

“S-sure,” Woojin agrees eagerly, wondering if he’s going to be introduced to the same ‘popular’ kids Eunki had freaked out about earlier, “I’d love to.”

 

“Great!” Seongwoo slung his bag over his back and motioned for Woojin to follow him, “Come on, we usually go to this place that’s a little farther because the _ahjumma_ there always gives us extras, I hope you don’t mind the walk.”

 

“No, walking’s good, but I have to get some stuff from my locker.”

 

“Okay, I’ll meet you by the gates then? In about fifteen minutes? I have to grab some stuff too.”

 

“Okay,” Woojin nodded, “I’ll see you then _hyung_!”

 

Seongwoo waves, charmed by the younger man’s enthusiasm; it was a nice change from the shy boy who had greeted him from behind Youngmin just a few hours earlier. Turning to head towards the stairwell, he stops as someone calls out to him.

 

“ _Hyung_! Wait up!”

 

He turns and bites back a sigh, of course it’s Daniel. “Can I help you?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

 

“ _Hyung_ , let’s walk home together!” the younger boy offers with another full-bodied smile.

 

“Can’t,” Seongwoo calls, turning on his heel to continue on his way to his locker, “I’ve got plans with friends.”

 

Daniel trails after him doggedly, “That sounds fun, where are you going?”

 

“To eat,” the elder’s response is clipped, “Why are you following me?”

 

“Because I want to get to know you better, _hyung_. Can I come?”

 

“No,” Seongwoo responds decisively.

 

“Please?” Daniel wheedles, “I’m hungry and I spent all my money already today.”

 

“What-” Seongwoo cuts himself off with a snort, recalling the fact that Daniel had paid for their lunch today, “You little brat, fine. Meet me at the gates, I’m going to my locker. _Don’t_ follow me.”

 

“Okay~” Daniel sings, happily scampering off in the direction of the gates and Seongwoo groans; he didn’t have nearly enough energy to put up with that boy.

 

* * *

 

Seongwoo arrives at the gates to find Woojin fidgeting nervously under the gaze of his friends who are also eyeing Daniel curiously.

 

“Seongwoo-ah,” Jonghyun calls, waving from where he stood, leaning against Minhyun, “Introduce us to your friends!”

 

Seongwoo picks up his pace to a light jog, throwing an arm over Woojin’s shoulders casually as he comes to a stop, “Everyone, this is Park Woojin, first year. He just transferred to our school and is the newest addition to the dance club. He also has a snaggletooth that sticks out when he smiles and it’s the cutest thing ever.”

 

Woojin who was just in the midst of smiling and bowing to his upperclassmen clamps a hand over his mouth in embarrassment. “ _Hyung_!” he protests, the sound muffled in his palm.

 

“Don’t be shy now, Woojin-ah,” Seongwoo chuckles, patting him on the head, “It’s a charm point, show it off!”

 

“If you’re done embarrassing the poor boy?” Minhyun cut in dryly, offering his hand to Woojin to took it quickly, “I’m Hwang Minhyun, I’ve shared a class with this idiot for three years now. Nice to meet you.”

 

“Kim Jonghyun,” the shorter male using Minhyun as a resting post greets with a small smile; Woojin recognizes him as their student council president and bows hastily.

 

Jonghyun gestures at another boy with dark honey locks and a cherubic smile, “That’s Park Jihoon, he’s also a first year.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Woojin,” Jihoon offers with a bob of his head, “We’re in different classes, but let’s be friends.”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Woojin smiles back weakly, shoving his hands into his pockets.

 

“Alright, the most important person is here now!” a loud voice announces from behind them, a boy with a manic grin and a guitar case on his back strolls towards their group, arms raised in a victory pose, “Your wait is over – the best, the most amazing Kim Jaehwan has arrived!”

 

“And that,” Seongwoo laughs at Woojin’s wide-eyed look, “is Kim Jaehwan, self-proclaimed best of everything. He’s a second year and, believe it or not, he used to be a quiet one. Or, well, quieter. Is that all of us today?”

 

“Seonho went ahead and dragged Guanlin with him,” Minhyun informs them and everyone nods like it’s expected, “He said he was too hungry and would save us a seat. Jinyoung and Daehwi are…somewhere.”

 

“Seonho and Guanlin are also in your year,” Seongwoo turns towards Woojin to explain, “They’re both growing like trees and Seonho has a black hole for a stomach, they’re good kids though, friendly, you’ll like them. Jinyoung and Daehwi are first years as well, I think they’re still trying to hide the fact that they’re dating even though literally everyone already knows.”

 

“Seongwoo-ah,” Jonghyun calls, “Don’t be rude, introduce your other friend.”

 

Seongwoo looks away from Woojin to see Daniel smiling, waiting patiently to be introduced – so much for ignoring him until he goes away. “Everyone, Kang Daniel. Kang Daniel, everyone,” Seongwoo says impassively, “Okay, let’s go, I’m starving!”

 

“Seongwoo-ah!” Jonghyun scolds even as Seongwoo lets his words roll off his back easily and refuses to look at the guilt-trip inducing eyes.

 

“Nice to meet you all!” Daniel chirps bouncing on his feet, “I’m glad to meet Seongwoo _hyung_ ’s friends, I hope we can all get along.”

 

“I thought I told you to stop calling me _hyung_ ,” Seongwoo retorts, turning away and starting the walk towards their favourite haunt.

 

“Ah, _hyung_ , I’ll come to practice from now on, promise. So don’t be so cold to me, okay?”

 

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Seongwoo calls back, refusing to budge.

 

Jaehwan sped up slightly to fall into step beside Seongwoo as Minhyun and Jonghyun shot him looks of exasperation, welcoming Daniel into their group in low tones. “So,” the guitar toting boy drawls, “What _is_ Kang Daniel doing, hanging around the likes of you? Didn’t you just say this morning that you weren’t close?”

 

“We’re not,” Seongwoo shot back, “He’s a brat and he seems to want me to buy him a meal to pay him back for spotting me for lunch, so now he’s hanging around.”

 

“That’s it?” Jaehwan whines, disappointed, “I thought it was going to be something more interesting than that.”

 

“That’s it, exactly that and nothing else. If you want to talk about interesting though, what about that first year with the guitar that you keep making eyes at?”

 

Jaehwan’s jaw snaps shut and he walks ahead resolutely. “Uhuh, that’s what I thought,” Seongwoo yells after him, “Keep running you hypocrite, you can’t run from me forever. We’re literally heading to the same place!”

 

“ _Hyung_ ,” a husky voice interrupts his gloating, “You left me.”

 

Daniel sidles up beside Seongwoo, taking the bag containing Seongwoo’s workout gear without a word and slinging it over his shoulder.

 

“What are you doing?” Seongwoo questions, reaching out to take the bag back, only to have Daniel dance nimbly out of reach.

 

“That looked heavy, let me carry it for you.”

 

“My school bag is heavy,” Seongwoo quips, “That weighs barely anything.”

 

To his surprise, Daniel quickly pulls Seongwoo’s backpack off his shoulders, slinging it over his shoulder as well.

 

“What _are_ you doing?” Seongwoo frowned quizzically, giving up on trying to get his stuff back after the fifth time Daniel dodges his hands.

 

“You’re probably tired, _hyung_ ,” Daniel insists, “Just let me carry it for you.”

 

“Fine, do what you want,” he rolls his eyes, glancing at where Woojin was striking up a conversation with Jihoon while Minhyun looked on approvingly, “Just don’t mess up my stuff.”

 

They reach the restaurant to find Seonho has already eaten his way through half a table’s worth of snacks while Guanlin seemed to have fallen asleep in his ddukbokki. Woojin is introduced to them in short order and though Guanlin is still on the quiet side, Seonho has enthusiasm enough for both of them and Woojin’s presence seems to have an odd effect of bringing Jihoon out of his usual quiet ways.

 

The first years chatter excitedly amongst themselves and Woojin and Daniel are integrated into the group in no time at all. At one point, Jonghyun freaks out and intervenes when Seonho almost chokes to death trying to beat Woojin in how many pieces of rice cakes he can fit in his mouth while Jihoon and Guanlin egg them on, Jaehwan cackling wildly from the sidelines. Seongwoo just reaches over to pound Seonho on the back until he spits it all out, coughing madly, while Minhyun goes to get more water, sigh heavy with exasperation.

 

They part ways after cleaning up their mess and apologizing to the _ahjumma_ for the ruckus, though she just laughs and waves them off, calling them polite boys who liven up her shop. Seongwoo steps outside and breathes in the crisp night air; the weather is cooler now at the end of the day as they near the cusp of autumn. He waits patiently for Guanlin and Jaehwan to join him on the way back to the dorms. The rest of their friends live close enough to the school not to have to leave home, a fact that Seongwoo envies sometimes when he’s feeling particularly homesick, but mostly he’s grateful his parents let him move out to attend the school he wants to.

 

“ _Hyung_ ,” Daniel steps out to stand next to him, “Which way are you headed.”

 

“To the dorms,” Seongwoo jerks a thumb behind him back in the general direction of the school.

 

“Cool,” Daniel swoops in to steal Seongwoo’s bags again, “Let me walk you back?”

 

“Why? Just go home Daniel,” he tries to grab his stuff back to no avail and the younger boy grins at him, teeth glowing faintly under the street lamps.

 

“I want to,” Daniel insists, starting to walk back when the rest of their group emerges from the restaurant and everyone’s bid their farewells, “Besides, the dorms are on the way back to school and I left my motorcycle there.”

 

“Fine, fine, whatever,” Seongwoo relents, “You never listen to me anyways.”

 

“I listen to you! I’m going to come to practice every day now,” Daniel responds as Guanlin looks on inquisitively and Jaehwan flashes Seongwoo a shit eating grin that just spells trouble and a sleepless night for Seongwoo trying to explain away nothing.

 

“We practice three times a week,” the third year retorts, “You don’t even know the schedule.”

 

Daniel, to Seongwoo’s eternal exasperation and Jaehwan’s delight, insists on walking Seongwoo right up to his door, refusing to hand his bags over until he’s reached his intended destination.

 

“There, we’re here now,” Seongwoo announces, reluctantly amused by Daniel’s actions, “Are you happy now?”

 

Daniel just sticks his head into their room, Jaehwan dropping his stuff on his bed and then sauntering off with his guitar, probably to sing vapid love songs rearranged into duets with that first year of his while they made eyes at other. “So this is where _hyung_ lives!” he looks around the room curiously, only barred from entry by Seongwoo who bodily stood in the doorway and refused to let him in.

 

“Yes, and I would very much like to rest now, thank you. Aren’t you being too forward, poking into my room uninvited? This is a gross invasion of privacy you know.”

 

Daniel starts and then pulls back, remorseful as a scolded puppy, making Seongwoo feel guilty for saying anything. “Sorry _hyung_ , I got too excited.”

 

“So you can apologize,” Seongwoo remarked, stubbornly swallowing down that discomfort that told him he was pretty much kicking the equivalent of a human puppy while it was down.

 

“Ah, forget it,” he sighed, uncrossing his arms and taking his stuff back from Daniel, patting the younger on the head absently, “Thanks for carrying my stuff even though you didn’t have to. Now go home before it gets too late, okay?”

 

“Okay, I will!” the younger boy perks up immediately at the first hint of Seongwoo’s concern for him, “And it was no problem, I’ll see you tomorrow _hyung_!”

 

“There’s no practice tomorrow!” Seongwoo calls after him as Daniel ran down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, “Geez, that boy.”

 

Throwing his stuff at the base of his desk, Seongwoo buckles down to go through his homework, answering every question and marking down the ones he’s unsure about. He reads over the notes from every class that day, barely acknowledging Jaehwan’s return with a grunt, focused on digesting every theory or rule.

 

It’s well past midnight by the time he finishes, Jaehwan’s side of the room is already blanketed in darkness and Seongwoo stretches quietly, bending to work out the kinks in his back. He leaves only his desk lamp lit and goes to wash up, returning to change into his pajamas and slip into bed.

 

As he reaches over to charge his phone for the night, he realizes he has several unread text messages he didn’t notice had come in while he was studying. There’s one from Minhyun, asking to check if he got the same answer on a homework question, one that’s a silly picture from Guanlin of Seonho’s face when he had all those rice cakes stuffed in his mouth, and one from Woojin thanking Seongwoo for introducing him to his friends.

 

There’s also three messages from an unfamiliar number saved as ‘Gaejookie ❤’ and Seongwoo saves those for last after firing off a response to everyone else. When he opens them, he can’t help but laugh under his breath, of course it was Daniel, who else would be so brazen to save himself in someone’s phone as gaejookie?

 

 

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:28 PM]** _

_Hyung! I’m home now, thank you for today! I had a lot of fun~_

 

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:31 PM]** _

_Are you studying now? I won’t disturb you then, fighting!!!_

 

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[12:03 AM]** _

_I’m going to sleep now, don’t stay up too late. Sweet dreams hyung ❤❤❤_

 

 

“Aish, that brat,” Seongwoo complains to himself, running a hand through his hair with a yawn, “What’s with all the heart emoticons?”

 

He hesitates before sending back a quick text and connecting his phone to his charger, setting his alarm for the morning. Switching off his lamp, he turned over and pulled his covers up, burrowing into his pillow with a content sigh.

 

 

**_Ong Seongwoo [1:24 AM]_ **

_Goodnight, you punk_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who might be confused, I played around with the ages of the characters to group them into the 'year' I need them to be. Honestly, it was hard compressing everyone into high school ages given that there's a whopping 15 year difference between the youngest and eldest Produce 101 participants. Granted, not everyone is going to appear, but still.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed that, let me know what you think about this week-long project, and I hope to see you all tomorrow!


	2. Tuesday

“Woojin!”

 

At the call of his name Woojin freezes on the spot, pivoting awkwardly and wondering who would be calling out to him so early in the morning. Jihoon waves back to him, arm looped through another boy’s who Woojin doesn’t recognize.

 

“Good morning,” Woojin greets hesitantly, unsure where he stood exactly after their half a day of friendship.

 

Jihoon allows him to hesitate for exactly three and a half seconds before he rolls his eyes and forcibly claims Woojin’s arm, dragging him down the street towards the gates of the school. The other boy seems to be used to Jihoon’s forceful personality and just allows himself to be dragged along easily, not even looking up from his phone, while Woojin tries not to stumble.

 

“Woojin, this is Bae Jinyoung, also in our year. Jinyoungie, stop texting Daehwi for five seconds and introduce yourself to Woojin,” Jihoon commands, steering their little group around easily.

 

“Sorry,” the other boy mumbles and then looks up to shoot Woojin a shy smile, “Hello, I’m Bae Jinyoung, pleased to meet you.”

 

Woojin stares for a moment because wow that boy had to have the smallest face he’s ever seen, but manages to shake himself out of it, “Park Woojin, same here.”

 

They continue on their way, Jihoon chatting mostly with Woojin, taking a moment here and there to prompt Jinyoung to join the conversation and get off his phone. They’re weaving through the mingling groups in the courtyard when Woojin notices that a lot of people seem to be whispering and giggling.

 

“What’s going on?” he whispered to Jihoon.

 

“Jinyoung?” Jihoon questioned.

 

“On it,” Jinyoung mumbles, fingers flying across his keyboard.

 

At Woojin’s puzzled look, Jihoon leans over to whisper into his ear, “Jinyoung’s boyfriend, Daehwi, is one of those people who knows _everything_. Mostly because Minki _hyung_ took him under his wing right from the get-go and Minki _hyung_ knows everyone who is anyone. It’s dead useful sometimes, but also kind of scary.”

 

Sure enough, not two minutes later Jinyoung makes a triumphant sound, “Got it. So apparently this morning a Kang Daniel and Seongwoo _hyung_ came to school together, but Daniel was carrying Seongwoo _hyung_ bridal style while he was screaming to be put down. The rumour mill is going _insane_ right now. Since when were those two close?”

 

“You weren’t here yesterday, Jinyoungie, so you missed it. Daniel _hyung_ invited himself to hang out with us yesterday and Seongwoo _hyung_ did **not** look happy about it,” Jihoon snickers into Woojin’s shoulder, “Actually, Woojin-ah, you’re in the dance club with them. Anything to add?”

 

“Ah…” Woojin tried to think back to the gossip he heard yesterday, “I think Daniel _hyung_ was trying to get on Seongwoo _hyung_ ’s good side by coming to practice but it didn’t really work? I’m not sure why though, but Hyunbin and Eunki probably know more.”

 

“You know what that means,” Jihoon beamed at his friends, keeping their arms hostage and marching towards the stairs, “Time to hear it straight from the source!”

 

“Jihoon-ah, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jinyoung asks even as he resigns himself to being dragged up three flights of stairs, “What if he’s in a bad mood. Seongwoo _hyung_ is scary when he’s in a bad mood.”

 

“It’s fine, it’s fine~” Jihoon insisted, smile on his face nothing short of wicked, “We have cuteness on our side!”

 

“That’s not a defense!” Woojin hissed worriedly, not quite wanting to find out exactly why Jinyoung had declared a Seongwoo _hyung_ in a bad mood as scary.

 

Ignoring their protests, Jihoon drags them through the doors. “Seongwoo _hyung_!” he chirps, pulling them towards the third year who was clearly stewing under a dark mood in his seat.

 

Woojin and Jinyoung wait with bated breath as they watch Seongwoo take a deep breath and exhale, visibly making an effort to swallow down his ire before turning to face Jihoon.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Are you okay?” Jihoon questions, hopping up to sit on Seongwoo’s desk, face pulled into an expression of concern while his friends exchange incredulous looks, “You seem stressed. Did something happen?”

 

Seongwoo stares back at Jihoon’s imploring eyes and debates whether he wants to call the younger out on his transparent attempt to fish for information. “It’s nothing,” he bites out, conscious of the whispers flying around the school still.

 

“Are you sure?” Jihoon wheedles, leaning closer until they’re almost nose to nose and Seongwoo makes an irritated noise in the back of his throat before he pushes Jihoon back.

 

“Either ask me outright or leave, I don’t have the patience for games right now.”

 

Jihoon drops the overly concerned persona immediately, eyes audaciously eager, “What happened with you and Daniel _hyung_?”

 

Seongwoo rolled his eyes; too easy.

 

“I woke up this morning to some idiot pounding on my door, insisting that we walked to school together. At 6 AM,” he grit his teeth, hackles rising just from recounting the moment, “Jaehwan, the traitor, let him in and then that fool _wouldn’t_ _leave me alone_.”

 

“How did that translate into you being in a princess carry?” Jihoon questions mercilessly.

 

“I made a mistake,” Seongwoo groaned, “I forgot idiots don’t know when not to take things seriously.”

 

“Which waaaaasssss?”

 

“I told him I didn’t want to walk to school with him and he said something about helping me carry my books to school. So I told him if he really wanted to be useful, why didn’t he just carry me to school then?”

 

“No,” Jihoon breathed, “You didn’t.”

 

“I wasn’t expecting him to pick me up and sling me over his shoulder like a caveman,” Seongwoo hissed, “He’s insane. Someone keep him away from me.”

 

“Where is he now?” Jihoon questioned, looking around as if expecting Daniel to just pop out from behind a desk and yell ‘surprise!’. “If he’s that persistent about being your friend, I don’t see him giving up after he’s carried you to school.”

 

“He’s in the office,” Seongwoo announces smugly, “For inappropriate conduct and invasion of another student’s personal space against their consent.”

 

“That’s a fancy way of saying he carried you like a princess into school,” Jihoon points out, barely biting back laughter, “You know _hyung_ , maybe you should just give him a chance? He’s trying so hard to be your friend.”

 

“That is not how you make a friend!” Seongwoo looked at Jihoon like he was crazy, “ _Friends don’t pick each other up in a bridal carry and parade around school like lunatics._ ”

 

“Sure you do,” Jihoon insists, suddenly hurtling himself towards Woojin, “Woojin-ah, catch!”

 

Woojin stumbles, knees nearly buckling under Jihoon’s weight, hand awkwardly caught under the other boy’s knees and the other jammed under his armpit. He barely manages not to drop his friend in his surprise.

 

“Tadah~” Jihoon sings, “See, totally possible.”

 

“You’re ridiculous,” Seongwoo scolds, “And don’t you dare drag Woojin into this, I want at least one _dongsaeng_ that’s normal, thank you very much.”

 

“Are you trying to say Jinyoung isn’t normal?” Jihoon gasped, going back to standing on his own two feet and grasping at Jinyoung dramatically, using the other boy as a shield between himself and Seongwoo.

 

“He’s Daehwi’s other half,” Seongwoo deadpans, ignoring Jinyoung’s blush and spluttered denials insisting they were ‘just friends!’.

 

“Okay, point,” Jihoon concedes, “but think of it this way. What’s to stop Daniel _hyung_ from doing something even more outrageous to get your approval? _Hyung_ , the chances of you holding your tongue are zero. You’re going to say something else that he’ll take as a challenge and it’ll be even _worse_.”

 

“What do you want me to do then?”

 

“Give him a chance! He seemed nice yesterday; maybe he just really wants to be friends. The less you push him away the less persistent he’ll be in his efforts.”

 

Seongwoo stops to mull Jihoon’s words over, wondering if things would really be better if he just gave it and allowed Daniel’s overtures at friendship.

 

“Oh Seongwoo~” the dulcet tones of Kim Jaehwan echoes in the corridor followed closely by his unmistakable screeching laughter, “you have some explaining to do.”

 

Jihoon laughs as Seongwoo looks ready to bolt or crawl inside his desk to avoid their inbound friend.

 

“What’ll it cost me for you to run interference?” he turns to Jihoon, desperation shining clearly in his eyes.

 

“Two weeks worth of snacks,” Jihoon names his price without hesitation.

 

“One week,” Seongwoo haggles.

 

“One week and lunch for all three of us today,” Jihoon shoots back.

 

“Deal,” Seongwoo agrees, shooting discomforted looks at the doorway, “only valid if you succeed.”

 

“But of course, do you doubt my skills, _hyung_?” Jihoon coos, batting his eyelashes exaggeratedly.

 

“Go,” Seongwoo urged, “Before he gets here.”

 

“On it~” Jihoon sings, turning and dragging his friends with him, “Come on guys, lunch is on the line!”

 

Seongwoo sighs and resolves himself to a day of avoiding Daniel _and_ Jaehwan. He manages to dodge Jaehwan until lunch, at which point the second year had the time of his life needling Seongwoo about being a princess to his heart’s content. Daniel stays thankfully absent until the end of the day, when he shows up Seongwoo’s classroom, smile bright and wide.

 

“Seongwoo _hyung_ ,” he greets the other, heedless of how his presence outside Seongwoo’s classroom is sending the gossiping hens in their school into a frenzy, “Want to walk home together?”

 

Seongwoo opens his mouth to shoot Daniel down, to tell him that after the debacle this morning he wants absolutely nothing to do with him. He wants to tell him to stop sending him all those text messages and to stop abusing heart emojis. He takes one look at Daniel’s shining eager eyes, thinks back to Jihoon’s words, and snaps his mouth closed with an audible clack of his teeth.

 

“I have to go to the library today, I have a paper I need to do research for,” he settles for a neutral response, turning back to focus on packing up his bag.

 

“Oh! What a coincidence, I have a project coming up soon that I should get started on,” Daniel beams at Seongwoo, hovering close to Seongwoo, “Let’s go together?”

 

“Fine,” Seongwoo agrees stiffly, “I have to go to my locker first, I’ll meet you at the gates?”

 

At Seongwoo’s agreement, Daniel smile blossoms into a full-blown grin, “Okay! I’ll meet you at the gates then _hyung_!”

 

Seongwoo watches as Daniel skips out of the room and wonders what he’s just agreed to.

 

 

* * *

 

 

To his surprise, although Daniel insists on carrying Seongwoo’s bag for him and chatters his ear off on the way to the library, half speaking to Seongwoo and half talking aloud to himself, amazed at every little thing from the new café opening to a particularly comely flower in a planter, he is respectful and quiet inside the library. He doesn’t talk above a whisper and doesn’t disturb Seongwoo when he’s researching, although he can’t seem to stop talking to himself in a low mutter, a running commentary under his breath as he thumbed through reference books.

 

Hours tick by and when Seongwoo puts the finishing touches on his paper, stretching his neck from side to side, trying to relieve the crick in it, he’s forced to acknowledge that maybe Daniel’s company wasn’t so bad after all. From the looks of it, the other boy had also finished the majority of his research, if the meticulous but slightly messy notes scrawled over pages of his notebook with the proper references are anything to go by.

 

“Hey,” he nudges Daniel’s arm, getting a startled look in return that he can’t help but chuckle at, “Are you done? You hungry?”

 

“I’m good for today, the project isn’t due until next week,” Daniel whispers under his breath, careful to modulate his volume, “Should we go eat?”

 

“Yeah, I’m kind of craving ramen,” Seongwoo admits, sighing in reluctantly fond exasperation when Daniel picks up both their bags again and heads to the exit.

 

“Oh!” Daniel’s whisper rises in pitch in his excitement, “I know this great ramen place! But it’s a little farther than we can walk, is that okay  _hyung_?”

 

Seongwoo pushes away the part of his brain that asks why he’s not leaving, why he implicitly invited Daniel to a meal and is entertaining the thought of spending more time with him, and nods. “Yeah, that’s fine. Are we taking the bus?”

 

Daniel turns to shoot him a mischievous smile, eyes almost disappearing in his glee. “ _Hyung_ , do you trust me?” he asks.

 

“Not at all,” Seongwoo is quick to admit, “But oh, what the hell, what’s the plan?”

 

Daniel laughs out loud in the half-empty parking lot of the library and reaches over to grab Seongwoo’s hand like it was something he did every day, “Come on!”

 

Seongwoo lets himself be tugged after Daniel, huddling a little behind the other to get cover from the wind and hoping the other boy didn’t notice what he was doing. Daniel leads them back to the school until they come to a stop in front of his motorcycle.

 

“No,” Seongwoo breathes, staring at the two hundred and fifty odd kilograms of a gleaming deathtrap.

 

“Yes,” Daniel declares gleefully, popping open the backseat to pull out a second helmet that he presses into Seongwoo’s hands.

 

“Do you trust me?” he repeats, staring Seongwoo dead in the eye and for a moment Seongwoo finds himself mesmerized, is taken in by the confidence behind those words.

 

He jams the helmet over his head in lieu of an answer and Daniel’s answering grin is electric. The younger boy starts the engine and then throws a leg over the vibrating hunk of metal easily, waiting patiently for Seongwoo to get on behind him. He does so gingerly, conscious of keeping space between him and Daniel, unsure of where to put his hands, and most importantly, wondering if this was how he was going to die - on the back of a vehicle his parents would kill him for riding while on the way to get ramen.

 

“Hey, _hyung_ ,” Daniel’s voice is muffled by his helmet and vibrating with the force of the engine, “You’re going to have to hang on to me or you’ll fall off.”

 

“I know that,” Seongwoo snapped, leaning forward to loop his arms around Daniel’s waist loosely, “Just don’t get us killed please? This is not how I want to go.”

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Daniel jokes, revving the engine and pulling out of the parking lot at a faster speed than strictly necessary, “I wouldn’t mind dying in your arms.”

 

If Seongwoo didn’t need both arms to hang on to Daniel at this time he would have smacked him. Instead he settles for gently head-butting the other with his helmet, not wanting to distract the driver too much. Daniel just laughs though Seongwo can’t hear it, only knows because he can feel the rumbling of his chest from where his front is plastered to Daniel’s back, and he picks up speed until they’re flying down the roads.

 

It takes a moment to get used to and then Seongwoo is laughing too, loosening the death grip he had on Daniel to lean back and enjoy the feeling of the racing wind tugging on his clothes, the sense of freedom that was different from the one he got from dancing but easily addicting all the same.

 

He’s giddy when they pull to a stop outside of a commercial area, doesn’t even protest when Daniel leads him by the hand through dark alleyways until they come to an authentic looking ramen stand tucked into a little nook. It’s standing room only, imitating the stands in Japan, and they pile into a corner and order two bowls, scarfing them down, not realizing how hungry they were until the food touched their mouths.

 

The broth is rich and savory, the noodles a perfect texture; Seongwoo scalds his tongue twice in his impatience and Daniel laughs at him until he bites himself on the tongue by accident and then it’s Seongwoo who’s laughing at him when he sticks out his tongue and whines.

 

Seongwoo’s protest is on the tip of his tongue when Daniel pays for both of them, but then Daniel’s dragging him away again, laughter in his eyes and what does it matter anymore that Daniel paid?

 

He ignores the fact that he’s still got some homework to do and follows Daniel through the streets, hitting up tiny stalls and laughing at the plush toys and weirdly stretched faces on socks printed with cartoon versions of idols. They pass by a manga café with a television playing the rerun of some cartoon Seongwoo vaguely recalls from his childhood and Daniel drops his voice to do a terrible imitation of the villain and Seongwoo, Seongwoo can’t remember the last time he’s laughed so much in one night.

 

Sure his friends are fun, are funny, but usually by now he’s back to studying, or practicing, or he’s the one providing the laughter, or worse yet, trying to _stop_ Jaehwan’s laugh from disturbing their entire dorm. There’s something contagious about Daniel’s laugh, it’s wholesome and heartwarming, the kind of laughter that invites you to laugh with him or just sit with a smile and bask in the sound.

 

Maybe Seongwoo was wrong, maybe he judged him too quickly and too harshly.

 

Maybe Seongwoo wouldn’t mind being friends with Daniel after all.

 

He’s shaken out of his reverie when Daniel jogs back from where he was browsing the wares of another random stand, holding something in his hand triumphantly. “Here!” he presses something tiny and metal into Seongwoo’s hands, “I got this for you _hyung_! Now we can match!”

 

Seongwoo holds it up to the light of the streetlamp, it’s a phone charm shaped like an “S” with a little bell and plastic bit of a cartoon seal attached to it. Daniel holds up a charm with a “D” and a cartoon puppy in a similar style. Couple charms.

 

Suddenly their day out takes on a new light and Seongwoo swallows hard remembering what other careless thing he’s said lately. Something cold and uncomfortable is forming in the base of his stomach that he desperately wants not to acknowledge, but Ong Seongwoo is no coward.

 

Ong Seongwoo doesn’t shy away from hard truths; he’s a creature of justified pride and blunt honesty, his character won’t allow him to be any other way.

 

“Daniel-ah,” he asks quietly, holding out the phone charm in front of him, “are we dating?”

 

Daniel blinks as if confused, “Aren’t we? You asked me out, right _hyung_?”

 

Seongwoo laughs, low in his chest; it’s his fault, this whole mess is his fault, his own careless impulsive words back to bite him in the ass with a vengeance. Daniel isn’t here to be his friend, hasn’t decided he wanted to get to know Seongwoo despite the prickly exterior underneath pretty packaging.

 

It’s a game, a weeklong contract. This isn’t the start of a friendship he could come to treasure; it’s a relationship with an expiry date.

 

“Right,” he echoes, “of course.”

 

“ _Hyung_?” Daniel questions, looking worried, “Did I do something wrong again?”

 

“No, you didn’t. Thank you for the charm,” he says woodenly, tucking the tiny piece of cheap metal and plastic into his pocket so he doesn’t have to touch it and feel it burn into his skin like a reminder anymore, “I think I’m going to go home now. It was fun, but I have to go.”

 

“Okay,” Daniel reaches out to take his hand again but stops when Seongwoo sidesteps him even though he hasn’t pulled away for most of the night, “Let me drive you?”

 

“No, I don’t think I can ride the motorcycle on a full stomach,” he lies, taking his bag back from Daniel, “I’ll just take the bus. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

 

“Are you sure?” Daniel looks hesitant to let Seongwoo leave and he musters up a smile that’s as convincing as he can make it.

 

“Positive,” he hiked the bag higher up on his shoulder and waves, “See you in practice, don’t forget to bring your clothes, okay?”

 

He walks off without giving Daniel a chance to reply, doesn’t turn around again even though the younger boy calls his name. Daniel doesn’t come after him though, which he’s grateful for. Seongwoo take the bus back to the dorms, forty minutes rattling about in an old dingy seat, feeling oddly claustrophobic within the weathered metal box.

 

He doesn’t think longingly of fifteen minutes of freedom pressed against a warm, solid, sturdy figure. Doesn’t think of the wind whistling past as he shouts his delight to the world.

 

Seongwoo trudges back into the dorm and to his room which is blessedly empty when he enters it. There’s a note from Jaehwan telling him he’s next door at Guanlin’s helping the younger out with some homework and Seongwoo slumps against his bed. He forces himself to get up and spend an hour finishing up his homework though he barely processes what he’s even writing down.

 

He’s washed up and in bed before Jaehwan’s back, a rarity as Seongwoo is usually the one staying up studying, and tosses and turns fitfully.

 

His phone lights up multiple times with messages from Daniel, all of them asking if he was okay and if he got home safe. He stares at the glowing screen for what feels like ages, wondering how many of these are stock phrases the other boy recycles for every week he’s in a relationship with someone new.

 

 

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:12 PM]** _

_Did you get home okay, hyung? You didn’t look so good at the end of the night. What is the ramen? Or some of the snacks we ate?_

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:13 PM]** _

_Do you need me to bring you anything? Medicine for your stomach?_

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:20 PM]** _

_Guanlinie said he saw you coming back into the dorm so I guess that means you’re back home safe, that’s good. Are you busy studying again?_

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:22 PM]** _

_Don’t study too hard! You need to take time to rest too~_

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:28 PM]** _

_Thank you for coming out with me tonight, I really had a great time ^_^ We can go on another date soon, right?_

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[9:31 PM]** _

_I’ll see you at practise tomorrow, don’t worry, I’ll bring pants this time!_

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[10:03 PM]** _

_Are you sleeping now hyung? You’re so quiet, are you ignoring me?_

_**Gaejookie** **❤** **[11:52 PM]** _

_I guess you are asleep.... sweet dreams hyung! Dream of me, okay? ^o^ ❤❤❤_

 

 

 

His fingers hesitate over the keypad; it’s so tempting to just put his phone away, to not respond, to punish Daniel who was only playing his part because Seongwoo was being a fool.

 

In the end, he settles for setting his alarm and plugging his phone in, sending back two simple letters and calling it a night. In the morning he’ll gather his resolve and see this through. A week of play-acting, at pretending they were in a relationship. Or he could call it off, ‘break up’ with Daniel prematurely.

 

It’s a farce either way, Seongwoo can’t deny it, but he got himself into this mess so he’ll either get himself out, or live with the consequences. Mind made up, he turns over to go to sleep. Besides it’s just a week at most, what’s worse that could happen? 

 

 

 

_**Ong Seongwoo [11:58 PM]** _

_GN_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand I'm 40 odd minutes late with this update, whoops! Forgive me~ time management is clearly not my strong suit >_<
> 
> For everyone who was wondering, yes this was inspired by the premise in the manga, "7 Days". I swear I had put a disclaimer, but apparently I did not.


	3. Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not late this time!!! But by god there are probably so many typos, I'm so sorry

Daniel wakes up at four in the morning and the world around him is silent. Grasping around his blankets, he is unable to repress a smile when his hand hits his phone and sends the tiny bell on his new phone charm tinkling. His couple charm. With Seongwoo _hyung_.

 

The very thought of even this cheap phone charm acting as a connection between him and Seongwoo has Daniel giddy. He grips the bit of plastic and metal between his fingers and runs his thumb over the smooth ridges fondly.

 

Two days ago when Ong Seongwoo himself asked Daniel to go out with him out of the blue, Daniel had been convinced he was dreaming.

 

Ong Seongwoo _hyung_ who was consistently ranked in the top for his year, famous for his flawless visuals, being caring to his underclassmen, and an acknowledged talent in their school’s national-level dancing team. Daniel still remembers the first time he laid eyes on Seongwoo _hyung -_  he had been showing the underclassmen around the school, had introduced them to the dance club and when he was part of the showcase performance to recruit new members, all Daniel could look at was how he seemed to shine on that stage.

 

Fast forward two weeks when Seongwoo intervenes and tells off two bullies who were making fun of Daniel for his glasses and Daniel was lost from the moment Seongwoo turned around with that concerned look on his face to ask if he was alright.

 

Seongwoo probably doesn’t remember that incident, Daniel muses, rolling over and squishing his face against his cat-patterned body pillow. To him, Daniel was just another tormented kid he looked out for. After Daniel hit his growth spurt, he had dyed his hair, gotten contacts, and joined the dance club to be closer to Seongwoo _hyung_. When he saw Seongwoo again, he had been ready to call out and thank him for stepping in, for standing up for him all those months ago, only for the words to die off in his mouth when he could see no recognition in those eyes.

 

But everything had changed after one jajangmyeon delivery and twenty minutes sprawled out next to his secret crush on the front lawn of their school.

 

Now they were dating, even if Seongwoo only thought it was for a week, that was a week that Daniel had to make Seongwoo fall for him for real. It was an opportunity given to him by the heavens themselves and he’d be damned it he let it go by him.

 

It was hard though; Seongwoo _hyung_ didn’t have a good impression of him to Daniel's utter dismay, being particularly unimpressed with Daniel skipping dance practice all the time. In the beginning, Seongwoo’s words had hurt, the way he never hesitated to call Daniel out for his shortcomings almost shocking, but when Daniel took a moment to stop and think about it, he knew they weren’t unwarranted. Seongwoo was honest in a manner that was refreshingly blunt but his words were never wielded out of malice. Daniel knows that better than anyone, had watched and listened as Seongwoo built people up just as easily as he cut them down to size with his sharp wit over the years.

 

Yet, even though Seongwoo had been the one to suggest them dating, the other boy hadn’t wanted to exchange numbers or let Daniel hang around his friends. Daniel knows Seongwoo hasn’t dated another guy up until this point – all his previous relationships had been a result of girls who idolized him asking Seongwoo out and the elder agreeing to give it a shot. None of them were long lasting and often ended with rumours and disappointed whispers about how Seongwoo was ‘not what they had expected’.

 

So Daniel had just chalked it up to Seongwoo not being ready to disclose his sexual preferences to his friends yet; that was okay, Daniel could wait until Seongwoo was ready and it didn’t seem like anyone in their group would turn out to be a homophobic asshole, what with at least two confirmed same-sex couples in Seongwoo’s friend circle.

 

Tonight though, or well yesterday, Daniel had been certain he had made some progress in breaking down Seongwoo’s walls. The third year had let him tag along to the library and even invited him out for dinner after their study session. He hadn’t protested when Daniel held his hand, had even trusted him enough to get on the back of Daniel’s motorcycle.

 

The feeling of Seongwoo’s lithe figure pressed against his back was a phantom warmth that still lingered, his delight as Daniel raced them down the streets was a precious memory to him. When they ran around giggling and fooling around afterwards, poking at this street stall and sharing any snack that caught their eye, it felt real. The way those fathomless eyes danced in delight when he looked back at Daniel over a mouthful of red bean paste as if laughing at a joke only the two of them would understand, Daniel wanted to have that forever.

 

He brings his phone up to his face to stare at the singular text he got back from Seongwoo _hyung_ , wondering what it was that had his _hyung_ suddenly shutting him out again. Maybe, he thinks to himself, maybe Seongwoo just wasn’t one for texting much?

 

Daniel rolls over in his bed and then rolls over again and again until his covers are completely tangled around his thighs, hitched up as they are to his waist. He kicks his legs around petulantly, trying to go back to sleep but it’s useless and he groans in frustration, reaching over to his bedside table to grab a handful of gummy bears and shoving them into his mouth, chewing moodily.

 

Sitting up, Daniel decides he might as well do something productive and throws off his pajamas in exchange for worn workout gear. He yanks his door open and both him and the figure creeping past his room freezes.

 

“Sungwoon _hyung_ ,” he greets, eyes sliding towards his brother’s closed bedroom door unbidden, “were you…..is _hyung_ back in town?”

 

Sungwoon laughs nervously, cursing the fact that his on-again, off-again boyfriend’s little brother caught him doing the walk of shame. “We were just catching up, and um, I fell asleep while we were watching a movie and I have an early shift at the convenience store so I need to go,” he stammers out an excuse, “please don’t get the wrong idea.”

 

“Right, um, okay,” Daniel shifted, feeling awkward in his own home and wondering if he should remind Sungwoon that they had school today and there was no way he actually had work in the morning, “I was just gonna go and work out. Do you need me to lock the doors for you?”

 

“Please,” Sungwoon flashed him a weak smile and the two of them make their way down the stairs and into the front foyer.

 

“Hey, _hyung_ ,” Daniel starts just as Sungwoon was able to unlock the door, “How do, how do you get someone to like you back?”

 

Sungwoon turns to look at Daniel, curious. “Did you finally find someone you like?”

 

Daniel can only laugh sheepishly, knowing how much Sungwoon had protested when he first went along with the whole dating someone for one week business. “It’s more like, it’s someone I’ve always liked and admired? I never expected they would want to, you know,” he mumbles his words, pulling at the hem of his shirt helplessly, “but I don’t think he’s taking it seriously.”

 

“If they’re the one who asked you out,” Sungwoon asks slowly, “then doesn’t that mean they like you? Just don’t break up with them at the end of the week then, or tell them now that you aren’t looking to call it off after a week.”

 

“Just like that?”

 

“Just like that. Keep things simple, there’s really no need to make it complicated,” Sungwoon confirmed, smiling mirthlessly at his own barbed remark, “Trust me about that part, complicated is exhausting.”

 

It takes all of Daniel’s resolve not to glance up in the direction of his brother’s room again and instead he nods and thanks Sungwoon for his advice, locking the door behind the older boy.

 

Simple. He could do that.

 

* * *

 

Seongwoo wakes again to a pounding on his door at an ungodly hour and wonders why in the world Daniel had to be a morning person. He rolls over and shoves his head under a pillow, hoping to drown out the noise, only to yelp in pain when something hard hits him in the back.

 

“Shut him up already!” Jaehwan demands sleepily, “My god, some of us are trying to sleep.”

 

Seongwoo sits up reluctantly and then makes a scandalized noise, “Did you actually just throw your alarm clock at me?”

 

“Well it’s not like I need an alarm any more, do I?” Jaehwan gripes, folding his pillow over his ears with a whine, “Just let him in! This better not be a daily occurrence, or I swear to God I’ll murder both of you. I need my beauty sleep!”

 

Grumbling, Seongwoo stumbles towards the door, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, “You could be in a fucking coma and it wouldn’t help your face.”

 

Yanking the door open he glares at Daniel, hair sleep mussed and suddenly aware of the line of drool dried on his chin, “What do you want Daniel? It’s ass o’clock in the morning right now.”

 

Daniel just coos at the sight of Seongwoo’s half-asleep form, “Good morning _hyung_ , I bought you breakfast!”

 

He presents the coffee and muffin combo in his hands to Seongwoo proudly, as if his actions deserved praise and not a boot to the goddamn head for depriving Seongwoo of precious sleep. “What time is it?” Seongwoo asks him, turning around and leaving the door open in silent invitation.

 

Daniel is quick to scurry inside, placing his offer on the desk and looking around curiously, “Um, I think it’s almost 5AM now?”

 

“ALMOST FIV-” Seongwoo cuts himself off and glares blearily at Daniel, he crawls back into his bed and kicks Jaehwan’s alarm clock out of his way when it digs into his side uncomfortably, “I’m going back to sleep. **Don’t** wake me before six thirty.”

 

“Okay,” Daniel whispers, shamefaced, realizing now that this probably wasn’t the best idea, “Um, what should I do then _hyung_?”

 

“Sleep. Die in a corner. I don’t care, just don’t wake me,” Seongwoo grumbles into his pillow.

 

“Right…” Daniel stares as Seongwoo starts to drift off again, barely holding back a squeal at how _soft_ Seongwoo looks, all bundled up in his blankets like that.

 

Slowly, he edges towards the bed and sits down on the edge. When Seongwoo doesn’t so much as twitch, he eases himself into a supine position, slowly inching his way over until he’s cuddled up against Seongwoo’s back, careful to stay on top of the blankets. “Is this okay, _hyung_?” he whispers softly.

 

When he gets no response or protest back, he giggles softly to himself and buries his face into the bunched up blankets where the back of Seongwoo’s neck is and breathes in his scent. Daniel’s breathing evens out eventually as well, his limbs moving on their own accord until he’s sprawled on top of Seongwoo, cocooning the other in his embrace.

 

* * *

 

“That’s not what I meant when I said go to sleep!” Seongwoo yells as he stomps off towards the school gates, red in the face, Daniel trailing behind him with both their bags.

 

Jaehwan lets out a high-pitched giggle and waves Minhyun and Jonghyun over breathlessly.

 

“What’s going on?” Minhyun asks once they’re close enough, Jonghyun’s hand tangled loosely in his.

 

Jaehwan opens his mouth to answer only to let out another wave of helpless giggles, and he shoves his phone at the two third years instead. Minhyun takes the offered phone and holds it up for both himself and Jonghyun to see. On the six-inch display is a picture of Daniel sleeping on Seongwoo’s bed, curled around a lump in the blankets with just the slightest tuff of black hair sticking out.

 

“Oh my,” Minhyun breathes, “Are they?”

 

Jonghyun looks at his boyfriend and shrugs, “I don’t know. I mean, Seongwoo hasn’t said anything.”

 

“Is Seongwoo the one-week boyfriend then?” Minhyun asks incredulously, “That’s not like him. Jaehwan-ah, are they dating for real or?”

 

It takes the younger several minutes to recover his breath and stop breaking out into laughter. “I’m,” he gasps out, trying not to choke on air, “You guys remember when I dated Daniel for a week back in May, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Jonghyun confirms, “You came in every day with him carrying your guitar for you and swooned about him being accommodating and amazing. Why?”

 

“It was _nothing_ like this,” Jaehwan admits, “He was a perfect gentleman, but that was it; it felt a bit like being part of a play, you know? He had his role, and I had mine. He rarely if ever initiated physical contact, the most that we did was hold hands. He never showed up at five am with breakfast looking like a lost puppy either.”

 

“So what you’re saying is…”

 

“I think,” Jaehwan smirks, looking over at where Seongwoo was still ranting and stomping around the courtyard in circles while Daniel trailed behind him, metaphorical tail behind his legs, begging for forgiveness, “I think we’re seeing the _real_ Kang Daniel for once. And he has absolutely no idea how to be in an actual relationship.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Seongwoo fumes for the rest of the morning, muttering under his breath about ridiculous overgrown puppies who don’t understand the concept of personal space and boundaries. Maybe he’s like that with all the people he dates, he thinks snidely to himself, though if that was the case then it’s a surprise Daniel hasn’t crushed some of the smaller girls he’s dated before to death.

 

Fine then, he decides, if Daniel was so committed to having Seongwoo live out the full experience of dating him, Seongwoo would return it in kind. This had to be some kind of accelerated program because seriously, who the hell climbs into the bed of someone they’ve been dating for two days?!

 

Determined to give as good as he got, Seongwoo shoots to his feet the moment the bell rings to signify their first break, ignoring the curious looks Youngmin shoots him. He takes a moment to compose himself and then stalks off towards Daniel’s classroom, popping his head inside with a plastic smile on his face. The younger boy is laughing uproariously at something Yongguk was saying to JungJung and Seongwoo waits for his laughter to subside a bit before calling out to him.

 

“Niel-ah~” he calls, using the nickname he’s heard the other boy’s friends refer to him by, voice sweet as honey, “are you busy?”

 

Daniel whips around, looking stunned. “S-Seongwoo _hyung_ ,” he splutters, stumbling to his feet, “What are you doing here?”

 

“What do you mean what am I doing here?” Seongwoo pouts at him exaggeratedly, “Can’t I come see my boyfriend?”

 

He sticks his lip out and peers at the other boy from under his bangs in an exaggeration of the look he’s seen Daehwi use on Jingyoung to get his way and, sure enough, Daniel crumbles like wet tissue paper. “O-Of course! I mean, yes, you can come see me anytime,” Daniel ducks his head, blushing and scratching at the back of his neck.

 

“Great!” Seongwoo announces, leaning further into Daniel’s space, “Will you eat lunch with me today? I’ll be busy after dance practice today but I want to spend time with you. Lunch is okay, right?”

 

“Yeah, of course, lunch sounds great,” Daniel agrees quickly, “Where do you want to eat?”

 

“Let’s meet on the roof?” Seongwoo suggests, “It’s nice and quiet there, good for some…alone time.”

 

Daniel’s face flushes redder than the shade of Youngmin’s hair at the not-so-subtle insinuation and he nods wordlessly, seeming to have lost his ability to speak.

 

“Perfect, I’ll see you then!”

 

With that, Seongwoo turns and heads back up the stairs towards his classroom. Take that, Kang Daniel.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When lunch time rolls around, Daniel bolts to the cafeteria to buy his lunch and then races to the rooftop to meet Seongwoo. There are a few others milling around the area but his eyes are instantly drawn to where the older boy is lounging against the railings when he arrives, slightly out of breath and clutching at the two sandwiches he had grabbed and paid for blindly.

 

“Sorry, did you wait long?” he gasps out, breathless for an entirely different reason the moment Seongwoo turns to flash him an impish grin.

 

“As long as you don’t make a habit of it,” his _hyung_ teases and then beckons Daniel to follow him, “Come on, let’s go somewhere quieter.”

 

Seongwoo reaches over to catch Daniel’s sleeve in his fingers and tugs him towards the storage shack on the rooftop, pulling out a key to unlock the door. Daniel follows Seongwoo in, easing the door closed behind them, and watches as the third year weaves his way through the mess of old props and extra desks to push open a door on the opposite side. When they step through, they’re out on a secluded area of the roof, cut off from everyone else.

 

“Tadaa~” Seongwoo sings, sweeping his arms out widely as if presenting the small terrace to him as a prize, “bet you didn’t know this was here. It’s nice, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, how did you find it?”

 

Seongwoo shrugs and laughs, “I got voluntold by Jonghyun and Minhyun to help the student council clean up the storeroom last year. We found it then and decided to keep it a secret between our group, made a copy of the storeroom key in secret even though Jonghyun disapproves strongly of it, and it’s a been a nice little place to escape ever since.”

 

They sit down to eat, Seongwoo dragging two old wooden stools and a desk out for them to use. Daniel watches as Seongwoo unpacks a homemade lunch box that looks amazing and his mouth waters, glancing at his cafeteria sandwiches with their limp lettuce sadly.

 

“Did you make that?” he asks.

 

“No,” Seongwoo laughs, popping a piece of chicken into his mouth, “I can cook but only the basics. There’s nowhere to cook in the dorms anyways.”

 

“Then how?”

 

“Mingyu, Jonghyun’s younger brother, is a whiz in the kitchen,” Seongwoo discloses with a wink, “I pay him to make me lunch three times a week so I can eat home cooked food, and he gets some extra spending money.”

 

“Ah,” Daniel responds, already thinking of whether he should make Seongwoo lunch tomorrow before discarding the idea; his entire repertoire consists of different ways to prepare instant ramen.

 

“Here.”

 

Daniel looks up to a piece of chicken held up to his lips and Seongwoo laughing silently. “You look like you really wanted to try some,” the other boy informs him and Daniel accepts the offered bite, letting out a surprised hum at how good it was.

 

“Holy shit,” he breathed, “this is really good. How old is the kid?”

 

“He’s a first year, you might have seen him around. I think he stole all the height in the family so he's easy to spot,” Seongwoo tells him, taking another bite of his lunch.

 

Daniel tries his hardest not to stare at the chopsticks that had just touched his lips going into Seongwoo’s mouth. He was not going to think like a pre-teen girl with her first crush, there was no such thing as an indirect kiss and, goddammit, that counted as an indirect kiss, right?

 

Seongwoo feeds him several more morsels of food and Daniel opens his mouth obediently each time, tamping down a blush and marveling over how domestic this all was. The change in Seongwoo _hyung_ ’s attitude was unexpected but Daniel’s wasn’t complaining. Now he knew not to wake Seongwoo up too early in the morning and the other boy was clearly in a much better mood now that Daniel wasn’t disturbing his sleep.

 

They finish lunch, chattering amiably until the bell sounds, warning them that class starts in five minutes, and they pack up quickly, putting the borrowed furniture back and rejoining the rest of civilization. The rooftop is deserted by this time, the other students having vacated the space at the sound of the bell.

 

Daniel is about to step through the door and head down the stairs when Seongwoo catches him by the arm and he stops, turning back to see what the other wanted. He stops breathing for a moment when Seongwoo leans in, ghosts a kiss over his cheek, and pulls back with a Cheshire grin.

 

“I’ll see you at practice,” he whispers and then waves over his shoulder, jogging down the stairs and leaving Daniel rooted to the spot in shock.

 

 

* * *

 

 

By the time classes end and it's time for practice, Daniel is still in a daze. Surely there was no way that Ong Seongwoo who would barely give him the time of day two days ago had kissed him on the cheek.

 

Seongwoo gives no sign of anything being out of the ordinary, smiling at Daniel when he came in for practice, only resting his hand briefly on Daniel's forearm in greeting before he’s ushering the underclassmen into the room and calling practice to a start. Then they’re dancing for three hours non-stop and Daniel barely has time to catch his breath, let alone talk to Seongwoo.

 

When he comes out of the change room after his shower, Seongwoo is already long gone and Daniel pulls out his phone, frustrated and perplexed in turn. There’s a single message from Seongwoo and Daniel pulls it up eagerly.

 

 

**_Seongwoo hyung _ **❤**  _[7:55 PM]_ **

_Hey, sorry I had to run, I have night classes today. I’ll see you tomorrow?_

 

 

Daniel grins at his phone, Seongwoo hadn’t forgotten about him and wasn’t avoiding him, he was just busy. He knows how much Seongwoo prizes his grades and he can respect that, so he texts back quickly to let the other know it was okay.

 

 

_**Kang Daniel**   **[8:02 PM]** _

_That’s okay! I’ll see you tomorrow then hyung ^-^_

_**Kang Daniel**   **[8:02 PM]** _

_Do you want me to bring you breakfast tomorrow?_

 

 

He doesn’t get a reply for several hours yet and he checks his phone distractedly during dinner until Jisung _hyung_ yells at him for not paying attention to him even though they rarely got to spend time together now that Jisung was off at university. Daniel apologized and put his phone away, feeling guilty for ignoring him, and resolved to give his brother his full attention for the rest of the evening.

 

They spend the time catching up between playing video games and pigging out on snacks that their parents aren’t there to scold them for stuffing themselves with. Daniel laughs at all of Jisung’s overdramatic stories about his roommate and doesn’t bring up the fact that he saw Sungwoon leaving Jisung’s room in the wee hours of the morning.

 

When he finally goes to bed after brushing his teeth, Jisung nagging at him not to fall asleep with jellies stuck between his teeth again, he’s delighted to find text messages from Seongwoo and Daniel hurries to read them and respond.

 

 

 

_****_Seongwoo hyung _ **❤**  __** [11:38 PM]** _

_As long as you don’t come at 5 AM again, yes. I think Jaehwan might actually kill us if you did_

_****_Seongwoo hyung _ **❤**   __**[11:40 PM]** _

_Maybe at 6:30?_

_**Kang Daniel**   **[12:23 AM]** _

_Okay! I’ll see you at 6:30 then~_

_**Kang Daniel** **[12:23 AM]** _

_Hyung, are you asleep now?_

_****_Seongwoo hyung _ **❤**  __** [12:25 AM]** _

_No, but I’m going to sleep now_

_**Kang Daniel**   **[12:26 AM]** _

_Okay ^o^ good night, sleep well **❤**_

_****_Seongwoo hyung _ **❤**  __** [12:29 AM]** _

_Goodnight puppy_

 

 

 

Daniel turns over and screams into his pillow. Morning couldn’t come fast enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost forgot to mention! Someone is running a fanfic fest for Wanna One/Broduce, they are currently in the process of accepting prompts until October 1st. Spread the word! Drop some prompts; I'd love to see this grow big (I'm greedy to more fic to read, ngl). Really, really hoping lots of authors will participate.
> 
> See https://twitter.com/101_lovesongs for details


	4. Thursday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's chapter is late AND extra shitty and I'm sorry.

Seongwoo stood leaning against the outside of his door, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. His lips purse and twist with his displeasure as he glances at his watch, an old thing with a beat up band that used to belong to his father.

 

The clock face reads 6:48 AM

 

And not a single ash blond hair in sight. So much for being the perfect boyfriend, he thinks bitterly.

 

“Seongwoo-ah,” Jaehwan whines, dropping all honourifics since it was just the two of them and Seongwoo really only used his age against Jaehwan when he was being particularly rambunctious, “can we just go? We’re going to be late and I don’t want to wait for your boyfriend.”

 

 _He’s_ _not my boyfriend_ , Seongwoo wants to snap, except he remembers that right now he is. Instead he shoots a nasty glare reserved for Daniel at his watch. “At this rate, he won’t be for long,” he remarks caustically, “Alright, let’s go. Let’s buy carp bread on the way, I’m hungry.”

 

Jaehwan lights up, straightening immediately from where he was slumped against the wall, “Now we’re talking! Your treat?”

 

He turns to flutter his eyes exaggeratedly at Seongwoo causing him to grimace, “I’ll buy you bread if you promise to stop doing that; you look like you’re having a seizure.”

 

It was the wrong thing to say and Seongwoo has to suffer Jaehwan’s increasingly embellished attempts at cute facial expressions all the way to school. Not even shoving carp bread into the other boy’s mouth would stop him, only leading to Jaehwan trying to incorporate the bread into his horrific aegyo.

 

“Who on earth are you even imitating?!” Seongwoo yelled, pushing the other boys face away from himself, “Did someone _teach_ you these?”

 

“I’m copying Jihoon!” Jaehwan cackles, swiping the last bite of Seongwoo’s carp bread out of his hands and eating it too, “Can’t you tell?”

 

“No,” Seongwoo deadpans, “It looked absolutely nothing like Jihoon’s aegyo. In fact, I’m sure Jihoonie would be appalled and cry in shame for having been the inspiration for _that_.”

 

“You _wish_ your face would look this fabulous,” Jaehwan announces, flouncing through the gates, hair flopping from side to side as he tried to flick it like one of those overdone shampoo commercials.

 

Seongwoo just scrunches up his face and repeats Jaehwan’s words in a garbled, high-pitched tone, running away with a laugh and hiding behind a startled Jonghyun.

 

“Jonghyunnie~” he calls, ducking Jaehwan’s fist with a laugh, clinging to Jonghyun’s shoulders, “Jaehwan has been terrorizing me all morning with his stupid face. Heal me with your handsomeness!”

 

“Ya, stop hitting on my boyfriend,” Minhyun calls, walking over to them lazily.

 

Seongwoo’s only response is to catapult himself over until he’s hanging off of Minhyun instead, face pressed into the other boy’s bicep. “Don’t be like that Minhyunnie, you’re still the most handsome to me,” he mumbles into his best friend’s arm.

 

“Just because you’re hitting on both of us at the same time doesn’t make it okay,” Jonghyun jokes even as he reaches over to hug Minhyun, effectively sandwiching Seongwoo in between them.

 

“Oh my,” Jaehwan comments, “How scandalous, Seongwoo _hyung_. Are you going to join the bed of two married men now? What about your boyfriend?”

 

“What boyfriend?” Seongwoo snaps, good mood dissipating, “Do you see one anywhere?”

 

Jonghyun draws back and both him and Minhyun frown at Seongwoo in concern, “Are you actually dating Daniel? Did you guys fight?”

 

“We’re not,” Seongwoo sighs heavily and runs a hand through his hair, stubbornly jamming his head into the crook of Minhyun’s neck so he doesn’t have to look at Jonghyun’s soulful eyes, “Not really. Dating I mean.”

 

“Please don’t tell me you, on Monday?” Minhyun says quietly, hand stroking the back of Seongwoo’s head gently.

 

There’s a pause and then Seongwoo nods against his shoulder and all Minhyun can do is sigh. Between him and Jonghyun, they slowly manoeuvre their little group to a more private area hidden behind some trees, the boyfriends exchanging a look. For all his caustic edges and nonchalant front, Seongwoo was surprisingly delicate when it came to matters of the heart.

 

Though he never admitted it to anyone else and went around school as if he couldn’t care less, he had been deeply affected by all of his break ups despite not even really being in love with any of his girlfriends. He had tried to explain it to Minhyun once, bundled in all the stolen blankets and cocooned between him and Jonghyun, how much it hurt that people never seemed to be able to love all of him.

 

Minhyun had read in-between the lines and knew that the lofty pedestal their classmates had put Seongwoo on was doing more harm than good. And even Seongwoo with all his self-confidence and bravado could be hurt by rejection when he offered himself with nothing held back.

 

“It was stupid,” Seongwoo mumbles, still not lifting his face, “I was stupid. I asked him out. And then he didn’t show up this morning. I shouldn’t care, why do I care? It’s just pretend and I don’t even like him anyways.”

 

_Because if even someone who’s pretending can’t fake liking me, then what’s left for me?_

 

Neither Jonghyun nor Minhyun answers the unspoken question, opting instead to squeeze Seongwoo in another group hug. Even Jaehwan who hasn’t quite picked up on all the subtleties of what was wrong joins in, reaching over to pat his roommate on the head.

 

“Let’s get to class,” Minhyun suggests softly, “You can come over and study at my place tonight, sleep over.”

 

Seongwoo takes a deep breath and gives his friends one last squeeze before he straightens. “Okay,” he answers, forcing himself to stand taller, to smile and ignore the knowing look Minhyun is giving him, “I miss your house. Your mom always feeds me a lot.”

 

They make their way inside, mounting the stairs just as the bell starts to ring, quickening their steps to a light jog. Seongwoo and Minhyun wave goodbye to Jaehwan and Jonghyun, promising to meet up for lunch on the roof today, with Minhyun quietly signalling Jonghyun to message the rest of their group. Seongwoo throws himself into his work, refusing to acknowledge the reasons why he was this affected by Daniel’s disappearing act earlier.

 

A motorcycle roars into the parking lot at break and Seongwoo stands abruptly, cutting off his conversation with Youngmin. “I’m going to the washroom,” he announces, feeling Minhyun’s worried gaze on him.

 

He walks down the hallway and then ducks into the student council room instead instead, making his way over to Jonghyun and flopping himself over the shorter boy’s back. “Seongie?” Jonghyun startles slightly before relaxing when he realizes whom it is that’s draped over his back.

 

“Let me stay here for a bit?” Seongwoo whispers.

 

For all that Minhyun is his best friend, Jonghyun was always much better at being supportive while knowing when to back off. A worried Minhyun would push or hover until Seongwoo itched from the words he knew Minhyun wanted to say.

 

“Help me sort out these forms?” Jonghyun offers in response, letting Seongwoo keep up the illusion that everything was okay, that he wasn’t freaking out over something so miniscule it doesn’t get to matter and Seongwoo could kiss him.

 

He takes the forms with a smile and spends the break sorting them into neat piles, signing off on a couple of them by forging Jonghyun’s signature that he had fully mastered a year ago. Jonghyun looks scandalized for all of two seconds before he snorts and shakes his head, recalling that time last winter when he had fallen ill with a terrible cold that ended up being pneumonia. In a desperate bid to get Jonghyun to stop worrying about his piled up paperwork and actually stay in bed to rest, Seongwoo and Minhyun had brought it all home and forged his signature on every last sheet. They had even gone as far as to do all him homework assignments for him and hand it in on his behalf, much to Jonghyun’s dismay. None of the teachers ever realized anything and Jonghyun had expressly forbidden the two of them from doing that ever again even though his heart was warmed by their actions.

 

By the time the bell rings, they’ve worked their way through two stacks of paper and Seongwoo grins at Jonghyun. Unexpectedly, sorting out the papers had calmed him down considerably and he bumps shoulders with Jonghyun in gratitude before slipping out of the room.

 

When he returns to his seat, he doesn’t see Youngmin opening his mouth to tell him something, only to fall silent when Minhyun shot him a sharp look. Then the teacher is calling their class to attention; they hand in their assignments and weather a pop quiz that Seongwoo only gets one question wrong on. He jots down the correct answer carefully, making a note to look it up in the textbook later that night, and then turns to focus on the lesson again.

 

* * *

 

Daniel wakes up to a pounding on his bedroom door and his brother screaming at him.

 

“Yah! Kang Daniel! Get your lazy ass up! I can’t believe you’re sleeping till now, you’ve already missed first period, get up, get up, get up!”

 

He missed _what_?! Daniel bolts out of bed, falling to the ground with a heavy thump in a tangle of sheets. The clock on his bedside table reads 8:45 AM mockingly and Daniel feels himself paling in horror.

 

8:45 meant he was beyond late for school. 8:45 also meant that he had completely missed his meeting with Seongwoo _hyung_ this morning.

 

“Shit, shit, cat shit on a stick,” he scrambles for his phone, heart dropping through the base of his stomach.

 

 

 

 ** _Seongwoo hyung_** **❤** **_[6:35 AM]_**

_Where are you?_

 

 ** _Seongwoo hyung_** **❤** **_[6:35 AM]_**

_Are you sick?_

**_Seongwoo hyung_** **❤** **_[6:41 AM]_**

_Daniel?_

**_Seongwoo hyung_** **❤** **_[6:50 AM]_**

_Okay then_

 

 

 

Daniel groans, clenching his hair in his fists in frustration; of all days that he had to get a good night’s sleep, that he had to oversleep, **why did it have to be today!?** _I’ll make it up to him,_ Daniel thinks to himself, _Seongwoo hyung can’t be too mad about this, right?_

 

He rushes through his morning routine, skipping breakfast and yelling his goodbyes to Jisung _hyung_ , running out the door without waiting for his brother’s response. His motorcycle makes it easy for him to weave around traffic and he makes it to school in record time, tires screeching as he pulled into the parking lot. The bell signalling the beginning of the first break period sounds and he books it towards Seongwoo’s classroom, intent on apologizing.

 

“Seongwoo _hyung_ ,” he gasps in the doorway, causing several members of Seongwoo’s class to turn towards him curiously.

 

“He’s not here.”

 

Daniel looks up, still breathing hard, to see it was Minhyun _hyung_ who had spoken, staring at him dispassionately. A shiver runs down Daniel’s spine and suddenly he wonders if Seongwoo _hyung_ was really mad about this and if he is, Daniel is absolutely certain that Minhyun _hyung_ knows and isn’t happy about it.

 

“Where is he?” he asks, eyes darting around the room, conscious of the people staring at him now.

 

“Not here,” Minhyun repeats with a shrug, turning away from Daniel.

 

His gaze slips off Daniel like water, as if he had been inspecting him and found him wanting; it makes Daniel feel uncomfortable and indignant though he refrains from calling out the third year in front of his class.

 

“He went to the washroom,” Youngmin volunteers, holding his hands up in surrender when Minhyun turns to pin him down with his eyes.

 

“Thanks,” Daniel nods appreciatively towards the red head and then rushes towards the closest washroom.

 

He pops his head inside, “Seongwoo _hyung_?”

 

There’s no reply and the stalls are empty. Daniel checks every washroom in the school and has nothing to show for it except for empty stalls and startled students who are less than impressed with him barging in and yelling Seongwoo’s name.

 

When the bell sounds, he’s forced to go to class lest he gets in more trouble than he was already in for missing the morning periods. He sits at his desk reluctantly, legs jittery, full of energy and the urge to track Seongwoo down. Opening his backpack, Daniel groans when he realizes he’s left his homework on his desk at home.

 

Today was off to a terrible start.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lunch rolls around before Seongwoo knows it and Minhyun tugs him straight towards the roof. “Come on,” he urges, “Seonho and Guanlin volunteered to get food for all of us so we can just set up on the roof.”

 

“Okay,” Seongwoo agrees easily, “Can they carry everything with just the two of them though?”

 

“They might be enlisting the others in their year, it’ll be fine.”

 

They make their way to their special hideout and Seongwoo tries to ignore the pang in his stomach as he remembers who else he was here with yesterday; it’s probably just hunger pangs, he tells himself. Minhyun and him pull out the necessary chairs with practised motions, soon joined by Jonghyun and Hyunbin who gawks at the previously hidden space.

 

The tall first year pokes around the space, sticking out his torso and craning his neck to see if the rest of the roof was visible from where they were. He screams and nearly falls off the ledge when Jaehwan announces his arrival by banging the door open, and Jonghyun is quick to grab Hyunbin by the back of his uniform jacket, hauling him back.

 

“Special delivery~!” Daehwi sings, rapping on the door with his foot, and they rush over to let the first years in.

 

All six of them troop through the doors, arms loaded up with a bit of everything, Jihoon nudging a bewildered Woojin through the door by head-butting him. It’s nothing short of a feast, really they should have known better than to put Seonho in charge of the food, but they are eleven growing boys so there’s no actual risk of there being wasted food.

 

Seongwoo is in the middle of a bite of mystery meat Guanlin is insisting he tries when someone starts knocking on the outmost door of the storeroom.

 

“ _Hyung_? Are you over there?”

 

Minhyun and Jonghyun shoot Seongwoo betrayed looks and the other shrinks back guiltily; he should have asked before he showed Daniel their special place, or at least told them he had.

 

“Seongwoo _hyung_?” Daniel calls out again.

 

Seonho gets up to open the door but sits back down at the shake of Minhyun’s head.

 

“Seongwoo?” Jonghyun questions softly, pressing his thigh against Seongwoo’s leg.

 

Seongwoo thinks for a minute, looking around at all his friends gathered here, how happy he had been up until now, and shakes his head. “Leave him,” he instructs, turning back to the spread of food.

 

A couple of the first years shoot nervous looks toward the door but say nothing. Daniel knocks for a few more minutes before giving up, and conversation picks up again after he leaves. Seongwoo joins in and pretends he doesn’t want to know why it feels like there’s a rock resting in his stomach.

 

He accepts the bite of bulgolgi Minhyun offers him on his chopsticks and chews stubbornly. Definitely indigestion.

 

* * *

 

Daniel spends the entire day trying to find Seongwoo and slowly going crazy the longer it becomes apparent that the entire school is against him. Or so it seems anyways. He’s certain the very walls would rearrange themselves just to keep Daniel from Seongwoo when what he needs is a secret passage directly to him.

 

Imagine his surprise when he finally gives up and heads over to his motorcycle, feet dragging and head drooping, only to find Seongwoo leaning against his bike.

 

“Seongwoo _hyung_!” he gasps, rushing forward to hug the other, only to have his helmet shoved hard into his stomach. Seongwoo gestures at him to unlock the compartment in the backseat and he does so in a stupor.

 

“I want to watch a movie,” Seongwoo announces, looking at Daniel expectantly and he scrambles to get on the motorcycle and start the engine.

 

Although Seongwoo is pressed against his back the entire ride, there’s a distance there that wasn’t present even at the beginning of this week, and even Daniel isn’t able to smile through the tension.

 

They arrive at the theatre in short order and Seongwoo gets off, wordlessly handing the helmet back to Daniel, and then heading inside while Daniel follows behind him uncertainly. Seongwoo chooses an action movie, some titles Daniel’s never heard of but pays for anyways. He buys them popcorn and drinks as well, hoping the food would win him a spot in Seongwoo’s good graces again, but the older boy doesn’t so much as touch the popcorn.

 

In the theatre, Seongwoo leans his head against Daniel’s shoulders but shakes off all of Daniel’s attempts to hold his hand. The movie is a bust but all Daniel can focus on is the scent of Seongwoo’s shampoo anyways, so maybe it was actually great and he just didn’t realize it.

 

They eat afterwards, checking out street stalls afterwards in a mockery of their first date, the tension between them is palpable and Daniel is afraid of saying anything, doesn’t know what to say, and Seongwoo seemed perfectly at ease with not talking. Every time Daniel thinks he's worked up the courage to apologize and explain, he sees that cold look in Seongwoo's eyes and the words fade to ashes in his mouth.

 

Eventually, Seongwoo signals to Daniel that he wants to leave with a tug on his shirt, and Daniel drives him back to the dorms. The ride back is filled only with the rumbling of the engine, and Daniel hates how far Seongwoo seems to be from him even though he's sitting right there. He hesitates before walking Seongwoo back to his dorm room, fidgeting and rehearsing lines, an apology, anything to say in his head.

 

Seongwoo unlocks the door to his room and Daniel opens his mouth, an apology on his lips when Seongwoo beats him to it. He takes Daniel’s hand and lifts it up between them, pressing something inside it, eyes demanding Daniel look at him and not what was in his palm.

 

“If you don’t actually want to spend any time with me, then just don’t do it, okay?” Seongwoo tells him, an eyebrow raised elegantly, “This sort of pretend, just going through the motions, I hate it after all.”

 

He lets go of Daniel’s wrist and then steps inside his room, closing the door between them and leaving Daniel standing outside stunned. Seongwoo collapses on his bed heavily while Jaehwan stares, fingers hovering over the strings of his guitar.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Seongwoo throws an arm over his eyes, pressing his forearm into his face, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

Outside, Daniel opens his fist to see the phone charm he gave Seongwoo earlier that week and wonders why his lips taste like saline.


	5. Friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the sleepy me to you, good night~
> 
> (Warning: not proofread)

It’s deep into the night, every student in the dorms has long since turned in for the night, even the rambunctious ones that usually have to suffer scolding from the den mothers. Jaehwan’s snores swelled like the tide, filling their room to the brim and Seongwoo turned over on his side, bright-eyed.

 

Seongwoo reaches out to grab his phone and check the time but hesitates, thinking better of it. The moment he sees the time, he’s going to start calculating how much sleep he can realistically still get which will only keep him up even later. He throws his pillow to the foot of his bed and flips himself over, hoping that a change in position would help him finally drop into the realm of sleep.

 

Minutes tick by and though Seongwoo keeps his eyes stubbornly shut, counting breathes, counting sheep even, sleep doesn’t come. When his phone vibrates, he almost jumps at the chance, snatching it off the tiny shelf at the head of his bed.

 

“Hello?” he picks up the call without registering the caller.

 

“ _Hyung?_ You’re awake?”

 

Seongwoo frowns, sitting up straighter and getting ready to put his slippers on at the sound of his _dongsaeng_ ’s voice. “Guanlinie, I’m up. Is everything okay? Why are you calling?”

 

Guanlin yawns loudly into the receiver and Seongwoo waits, hoping it wasn’t anything serious but rationalizing that if Guanlin sounded so relaxed, it probably wasn’t an emergency.

 

“Ah _hyung_ , I got up because I drank too much soda and had to go to the washroom,” the younger explains, mumbling his words sleepily, “I didn’t know if I should wake you, but I thought you should know. Daniel _hyung_ is sleeping outside your door.”

 

Seongwoo shoots this his feet, barely remembering not to shout, settling for a loud whisper instead, “What?!”

 

“Yeah, at first I thought it was a large animal, or someone left garbage outside your door as a joke. But then I got closer and it was Daniel _hyung_.”

 

“Guanlin-ah, where are you right now?” Seongwoo asks, taking three long strides until he’s at his door.

 

“I’m back in my room now, I didn’t have my phone with me so I went back to call you.”

 

“Okay, go back to sleep Guanlin-ah, _hyung_ will take care of this,” Seongwoo declared, glancing at Jaehwan who was still happily oblivious to the world.

 

“Okay _hyung_ ,” he could hear the younger yawning widely into the receiver again, “Good night. Don’t fight with Daniel _hyung_ anymore, he looked sad even when he was sleeping.”

 

Seongwoo sighs and bites back a retort at his _dongsaeng_ ’s unintentional scolding, “Got it, get some rest.”

 

He hangs up and tucks the phone into the pocket of his pajama pants; a part of him is tempted to just yank the door open but something holds him back. Instead Seongwoo finds himself unlocking the door and slowly easing it open. Sure enough, there’s a human-shaped lump slumped against his room door and Seongwoo crouches down, continuing to ease the door open while manoeuvring around it awkwardly so that he could catch Daniel’s prone form.

 

Daniel is heavy, too heavy, and Seongwoo digs his feet into the ground too late. It’s no good and he curses as his slippers do exactly what you’d expect given their name, which is slip backwards and send him backwards until he’s sitting on his ass and Daniel is sprawling into his lap.

 

With an annoyed huff, he makes the shake the other boy awake only to pull his hand back sharply at the touch of chilled skin. _Jesus! How long had he been out there? And how has he not been kicked out before this?_ Seongwoo wonders.

 

He eases himself out from under Daniel carefully, wincing when the other boy didn’t so much as twitch, lolling across the tiny space between Seongwoo and Jaehwan’s bed.

 

“Hey,” he whispers, nudging Daniel with a foot with no success, “Wake up.”

 

Daniel mumbles to himself, turns over and latches onto Seongwoo’s foot. Seongwoo stares at the boy curling himself around Seongwoo’s calf and sighs, eyeing his bed dubiously. It was a single and he distinctly remembered the feeling of being crushed two days back when Daniel had climbed into his bed unbidden.

 

The proper thing to do was the shake the other boy until he woke up, even if the ensuing chaos would probably wake Jaehwan up at least. But Seongwoo can feel the way Daniel is shivering as he clings to his leg, remembers that Daniel’s skin was almost ice cold to his touch.

 

Against his better judgement, Seongwoo ends up dragging Daniel and lugging him into the bed. It’s nothing short of a miracle that not only does Daniel not wake up from being manhandled, but that Jaehwan also wasn’t disturbed by the commotion. This time, Seongwoo rolls Daniel until he’s the one wedged against the wall and then piles the blankets on top of him, even adding the throw he had deemed too cumbersome for this weather earlier on top.

 

Gingerly, he eases himself into the bed next to Daniel, wincing when he brushes up against frigid skin. Without thinking, Seongwoo reaches over to clasp an icy hand in his own, rubbing at the skin until the limb slowly regained its warmth.

 

He tries to draw his hands away, only for Daniel’s hand to clamp down on his, trapping his fingers between the other boy’s. Somewhere between trying to reclaim his hand, Seongwoo ends up getting tugged closer until he’s playing the little spoon to Daniel’s clinging octopus limbs, much to his displeasure. He falls asleep mid struggle, grumbling under his breath even in his sleep.

 

Across the room, Jaehwan gives up on pretending to sleep and creeps out of his bed, trusty phone in hand.

 

“Oh my god,” he breathes to himself as he stared at Seongwoo sleeping with Daniel wrapped around them, “They’re both idiots, oh my god.”

 

Once he’s certain they’re both deep asleep, he takes a single picture for blackmail purposes, praying the flash wouldn’t wake either of them up. It doesn’t and he giggles quietly to himself as he sends the picture to Jonghyun and Minhyun.

 

 _Look what I caught in Seongwoo’s bed_ , he captions it and then crawls back into bed himself. He couldn’t _wait_ to see how these two idiots tried to reason their way out of this one.

 

* * *

 

Daniel falls asleep huddled pathetically against Seongwoo’s door, charm clutched in hand, too afraid to knock on Seongwoo’s door and apologize but too stubborn to leave. He wakes up too warm and kicks the blankets off him, cuddling closer to the human-shaped body pillow.

 

He’s about to go back to sleep except the pillow _moves_ and his eyes snap open when he realizes it’s not a pillow at all, it’s a person. And not just any person, it’s Seongwoo _hyung_ who’s sleeping, face smooshed into Daniel’s chest, fingers clenched into the front of Daniel’s shirt, and Daniel is convinced he’s dreaming. This isn’t real, doesn’t make sense that he wakes up with Seongwoo _hyung_ in his arms, fantasies don’t come to life like that, never mind that a part of him whispers he would like to wake to this for the rest of his life.

 

But then he remembers falling asleep outside of Seongwoo’s door, wondering how he was going to convince Seongwoo that this wasn’t a joke, wondering when _simple_ became so complicated and everything Sungwoon _hyung_ had warned him against.

 

Perhaps, he thinks, perhaps he had looked so pathetic that Seongwoo had dragged him inside so he didn’t catch his death out there. He buries his face into Seongwoo’s hair and breathes in the scent of his shampoo, it’s bright and crisp, lime and basil notes or some other herb weaved in with his natural scent. Seongwoo smells like splendour, like citrusy ozone and warmth in stardust, like what Daniel hopes home will smell like even though this might be the last chance he will breathe this in.

 

* * *

 

 

When Daniel wakes up again, he’s cold despite the pile of blankets and Seongwoo acting as a mini furnace. His throat is aching and his nose feels stuffed up, his limbs are heavy and his eyes itch and he hates himself for being dumb enough to fall asleep outside like this because he’s definitely sick. Then Seongwoo lets out a little sniffle, blinks bleary eyes at him, tries to get words out only to let out a croak and oh fuck, he got Seongwoo sick too.

 

It seems Seongwoo realizes what’s happened at that moment as well because he glares half-heartedly, mulishly, and it’s the cutest thing Daniel has seen before he’s shoved out of the best unceremoniously. He lands heavily with a thump and his laugh comes out raspy, he sounds like he’s gargled sandpaper, and Jaehwan is woken up in short order.

 

Jaehwan who is entirely unsympathetic to his roommate’s plight, laughing uproariously until Seongwoo launches himself across the small gap between their beds and threatens to breathe on everything if Jaehwan doesn’t shut up.

 

“God, alright,” he surrenders, “I forgot how much of a grouch you are sick. I’ll let the teachers know not to expect you. Did you guys make out? I bet you have mono.”

 

Seongwoo’s response is to sneeze in his face, sending Jaehwan screeching as he runs off towards the bathroom.

 

“Oh, now you wash your face, huh?” Seongwoo croaks after him, “Guess I’m doing the world a favour, Minhyun would be so proud!”

 

He makes his way back to his own bed; Daniel is still sprawled out on the floor, uncertain about what exactly he is supposed to do when his legs feel like jelly. Seongwoo wraps himself in his blankets again and then rolls to the edge of his bed do stare at Daniel. “What are you still doing here,” he asks suspiciously, “Go home if you’re sick. Stop spreading your germs around here.”

 

Daniel cranes his neck to look at his legs dubiously, “I don’t think I can.”

 

Seongwoo scoffs, “Get someone to pick you up then.”

 

Daniel stops to think about the fact that his parents are out of town and the ironic fact that his older brother still doesn’t have his license and shakes his head slowly. Seongwoo groans in frustration and then shivers, “Get up here then.”

 

“What?” he balks, certain he’s heard wrong, but Seongwoo just pats the bed impatiently.

 

“Up, I’m cold,” he whines, “I’m getting colder just looking at you. If you’re not leaving then make yourself useful.”

 

* * *

 

 

And that’s how Daniel finds himself bundled up in bed next to Seongwoo again. The older boy takes one of his arms hostage, shoves his face into Daniel’s shoulder and dozes off again. Jaehwan comes back briefly, to grab his stuff for school and chuck a packet of cold medicine at the two of them, dumping two water bottles on their heads.

 

They take the medicine and Seongwoo goes back to sleep, leaving Daniel with no choice but to follow in his example. A sick Seongwoo apparently is also a clingy Seongwoo, and the older boy refuses to relinquish his grip on Daniel’s arm, curling into Daniel’s side with a petulant frown, whining in the back of his throat every time Daniel tries to move.

 

It’s adorable and Daniel wishes he could enjoy this more, could coo over the vulnerable side of his _hyung_ shining through, but half the time he can’t breathe which makes it rather difficult to bask in anything.

 

Sometime in the afternoon, Minhyun and Jonghyun barge into their room armed with soup and rice porridge. Minhyun stares dispassionately at Daniel, clearly not approving of his presence but only purses his lips, not saying anything as he focuses on coaxing Seongwoo to sit up.

 

“Seong, come on,” he settles on the bed and strokes a hand over Seongwoo’s forehead, “You need to eat to keep your energy up.”

 

Seongwoo squints at him before letting go of Daniel’s arm and attaching himself to Minhyun instead. “Don’t wanna,” he mumbles.

 

“Seong-ah,” Jonghyun tries, tugging on his friend’s hair, “Don’t you want some pumpkin porridge? We got it special from the shop you like; won’t you sit up and eat some? Please?”

 

With great reluctance, Seongwoo sits up and lets Minhyun spoon porridge into his mouth. Jonghyun passes Daniel his portion and Daniel is more than grateful for the fact that they thought to get him food too. He eats and watches fondly as Seongwoo’s friends baby him while the normally independent boy soaks it in, whining about this and that and refusing to eat on his own. Daniel thinks Minhyun and Jonghyun would probably make great parents.

 

The two third years pause and look at him and Daniel flushes even redder if that is possible, realizing he’d said those words out loud. Jonghyun just laughs, reaching over to ruffle Daniel’s hair and Minhyun’s gaze softens just by a hair.

 

They have to go soon afterwards though Minhyun only leaves after he’s bullied Seongwoo into taking more medicine, watching with a hawk’s eye to make sure Daniel did as well, and slapping cooling patches on both their foreheads, proving once again that his mothering tendencies didn’t discriminate.

 

After they leave, Seongwoo turns back to stare at Daniel with a pout and Daniel can’t resist opening his arms and drawing this contrary creature into his embrace.

 

“ _Hyung_ ,” he whispers into Seongwoo’s hair, “you know I like you, right?”

 

Seongwoo draws back to frown at him. “Do we have to do this now?” he complains, “I feel and look like shit.”

 

“Yes now,” Daniel insists, voice scratchy, “Or else you’re going to run away from me again. Seongwoo _hyung_ , I like you. I’m sorry about yesterday; I overslept, I didn’t mean to ditch you. But everything I’ve done up until now was because I like you, not because I was pretending.”

 

Seongwoo stares at him steadily, “And why should I believe that? Why should I trust the words of someone who walks away at the end of the week?”

 

“That’s up to you,” Daniel sighs, pulling Seongwoo closer, “I don’t know how to prove it to you. My track record is shit, I know it looks bad. You’ll just have to trust me.”

 

“Trust the words of someone who walks away in the end scot free?”

 

“What if I said I didn’t want to walk away at the end?”

 

Silence stretches between them. Despite the slight fever and his laboured breathing, Seongwoo’s eyes are sharp and clear. He stares into Daniel as if trying to dissect his soul and Daniel lays himself bare before him, wills him to see the truth in his declaration.

 

He doesn’t know what it is that Seongwoo sees. Seongwoo leans up into Daniel’s space, drawing close, close enough for their noses to touch, until they’re breathing each other’s air.

 

He leans in until their lips brush against each other with ever word Seongwoo says, until Daniel isn’t so much hearing them as feeling them tingle across his skin.

 

“I’d call you a liar,” Seongwoo’s words are the lightest exhale, butterfly wings against a cupid’s bow, “And I’d call myself your fool.”

 

Then he’s sealing their lips together and they wonder if this is enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short again, I'm actually dying a little guys and not ashamed to admit this once-a-day thing is taking a toll. Please excuse the poor quality of work here, maybe one day I'll be able to do better.


	6. Not an update!

Hey guys,

 

Just wanted to let you guys know I started working weekends as well (again), and then some things came up so now I have no time to write. I'd stay up and do this overnight but I'm sick right now sooooo that didn't seem like the best choice to be making.

 

"Saturday" will not be posted today and will be delayed, I'm so so _so_ sorry about this. I hope you guys can understand and forgive me  >_<

 

A huge thank you for everyone who's been following and supporting this project so far, all of your comments and feedback have been so great. I really appreciate each and every one of them, they really brighten up my day and gave me the motivation to keep writing, and I'm sorry don't have the time to respond to every one like I want to. 

 

 

With Love,

C.


	7. Saturday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so late, oh my!
> 
> Thank you to everyone for the well wishes, I'm back and 80% less likely to pass out randomly and/or on my keyboard. Hope this chapter was worth the wait? ajkwjflawkf I tried >_<

“You’re an idiot,” Jisung hisses at him after Daniel finally untangled himself from Seongwoo’s embrace in the wee hours of the morning and carted his indisposed ass home, “Passing out outside someone’s door. That has got to be the most insipid declaration of love ever and you’re sick now in the process. Good job!”

 

Daniel glares weakly at his brother for his lack of sympathy, coughing into his elbow as he trudged up the stairs, Jisung at dogging his steps. “And then to spend the night at your boyfriend’s!” Jisung continues on, “And at your age! How scandalous; why when I was your age, I never-”

 

“When you were my age,” Daniel cuts him off, “You were too busy ogling Sungwoon _hyung_ ’s ass but too scared to confess.”

 

Jisung’s glare would have been intimidating if Daniel hadn’t grown up watching him perfect it in the mirror, back when his brother had been convinced high school was going to be like those American movies and watched ‘Mean Girls’ religiously. He can see Jisung’s jaw working in overdrive although no sound comes out for once beyond betrayed gasps.

 

“Whatever,” Jisung chokes out once he finally formulates words, “we’re not talking about me and Sungwoon. I can’t believe I came back for once and we talked for an entire night and you never told me about you boyfriend! Actually, wait, he _is_ your boyfriend, right? You cleaned up your mess from before right?”

 

“He is,” Daniel is quick to confirm, before hesitating, “Or at least, I really want him to be.”

 

“I don’t like the sounds of that,” Jisung declares around a yawn, “it sounds way too complicated for five in the morning, but what the hell, I’m awake already. Tell _hyung_ all about it!”

 

Daniel throws himself onto his bed dramatically while Jisung settled at the foot of it, patting his calf gently out of habit and Daniel calms a little.

 

“So, there’s this guy I always liked in school? He’s a year older, and uh, shit, you probably knew him from before you graduated since you knew everyone. Anyways he asked me out on Monday, but I don’t think he meant it, but _I_ meant it. And now I wanted to make him understand this isn’t a one week thing, but a forever thing, but I don’t know how?”

 

“Name,” Jisung makes an imperious motion at him, “Come on, I need a name! And dammit, Daniel, you still didn’t clean up that one week mess? Did you tell him at least? That you didn’t want this to be a one week thing?”

 

Daniel hesitates for a moment, he hadn’t been kidding when he said his brother knew everyone; Jisung was as sociable as they came and ridiculously amicable, even people he just spoke to in passing saw the talkative and bubbly male as a good friend. He caves at his brother’s expectant look, what was the worse that could happen?

 

“Seongwoo, Ong Seongwoo,” he admits.

 

“Ong Seongwoo?” Jisung sits a little straighter, hands itching to whip out his phone, “My little Ongie? That’s who you like?!”

 

Daniel bolts into a sitting position in a panic at the familiar way Jisung addressed Seongwoo, throwing a pillow at his brother petulantly, “What do you mean _your_ Ongie? Why are you calling him Ongie?”

 

“Oh, that’s right, you were too ‘cool’ to come to the assemblies,” Jisung snarked, “Ongie and I used to MC together! That boy was precious, always good for a laugh; you could definitely have done worse.”

 

Daniel’s face twists and he mumbles, “Yeah, yeah, he’s out of my league, I know.”

 

Jisung rolls his eyes and lobs the pillow back at his younger brother, “Don’t put yourself down; you’re _my_ younger brother, you’re plenty good enough for anyone, even Ong Seongwoo. Please tell me you told Seongwoo you’re playing for keeps though, that boy might not seem like it but he takes things more seriously than you’d think.”

 

“I did,” Daniel amends his hasty statement at Jisung’s sceptical look, having known his brother for too long to believe Daniel’s words, “I mean, I mentioned it today but I don’t think he really, he seemed sceptical?”

 

“Wow,” Jisung sounds so unimpressed that is hurts, “sceptical, a big word. Let me guess, you sprung it on him and didn’t even explain what this entire mess is, did you?”

 

Daniel just pitched backwards to muffle a scream in his pillow. “What am I supposed to do? Say ‘Hey Seongwoo, I don’t know if anyone remembers but I broke up with Ha Minji a week after she confessed to me back in first year, so her shithead of a brother went and spread a rumour that I only dated people for a week and somehow everyone believed it and just leaves me after a week, effectively sabotaging my love life for the past year and a half’? Like that _hyung_?”

 

“It can’t be any worse than you moping and whining like this about how Seongwoo is going to leave you,” Jisung points out, getting up from his seat with a sigh, “Get some sleep kid, you’re still sick. If you’re better tomorrow, take him out, explain yourself and turn up the charm until he can’t leave you. I’m going back to bed, call me if you feel like you’re going to die in your sleep, yeah?”

 

He leaves Daniel grumbling into his pillow and kicking his covers around until his mind stops racing and he falls asleep, tangled in his sheets and sprawled everywhere like an unruly child.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Seongwoo finally stirs, the bed beside him is empty and cold. His head feels heavy and stuffed with cotton like it always does when he’s slept for too long; it feels as if he had been sleeping for a week but the clock reads 10:38AM which means Seongwoo has been sleeping for over sixteen hours. His stomach grumbles and reminds him he hasn’t fed it for at least that long and he stands, stretching out the aches in his joints. He's never been more glad that it wasn't a school day.

 

He wanders over to his shelf and digs out an energy bar, ripping the wrapper open and chomping down on half of it from the get go. Objectively speaking, he feels much better after sleeping for so long, the ache in his throat is gone and leaving only a mild congestion behind. He vaguely remembers someone, probably Jaehwan, forcing medicine into his mouth sometime in the night, then flashes of soft kisses and warm clingy limbs invades his mind and he flushes so red anyone would think his fever hadn’t broken after all.

 

Finishing his energy bar, Seongwoo chugged half a bottle of water before heading to the washroom, suddenly feeling an urge to scrub the residual illness from his skin like it was a physical thing. He doesn’t spend fifteen minutes standing under the spray of hot water remembering how Daniel’s lips felt against his own, of how the younger boy’s body seemed to fit perfectly against his. He doesn’t.

 

When he’s out of the washroom, he notices a note from Jaehwan he’d missed earlier. He’s out for the day with Sewoon, a ‘no it’s not a date!’ is hastily scrawled at the bottom and Seongwoo snorts, crumbling up the sticky note and tossing it in the trash. Typical Jaehwan, who does he think he’s fooling?

 

Seongwoo wastes an hour looking through videos of cute yawning puppies and new choreography before his stomach protests again, begging him to feed it real food and he gets up reluctantly to change into casual clothes. He picks up his phone, wondering who might be free to join him for food when it starts vibrating in his hand unexpectedly, startling Seongwoo so badly he almost drops it.

 

 

 

**Incoming Call**

**Gaejookie** **❤**

 

 

He picks up his phone before he realizes he has no idea what to say to Daniel. “What?” he blurts out and then winces at how harsh it sounded.

 

“ _Hyung_?” Daniel sounds timid on the other end, “Did I wake you?”

 

“No, you didn’t,” Seongwoo sigh, shaking his head to dispel the returning memory of strong arms around his waist, “I was just going to get food.”

 

“Oh, okay. Are you feeling better today, _hyung_?”

 

Seongwoo finds himself smiling at the earnest concern in Daniel’s tone, “Yeah, I’m almost at a hundred percent, how’re you doing?”

 

He gets his response when Daniel coughs into the receiver until he’s heaving for breath. “Not so hot,” the younger boy laughs, voice raspy, “I just wanted to check on you, if you’re better then that’s all that matters. I’m sorry I got you sick.”

 

“Did you take medicine?” Seongwoo asks him, stepping into his runners and locking the door to his dorm room behind him as he headed towards the stairs.

 

“Yeah, Jisung _hyung_ made me take some this morning before he headed out, I’ve just been sleeping.”

 

“Did you eat?” Seongwoo finds himself fussing, flashing back to Daniel’s frozen pallid skin when he had fallen asleep outside the door.

 

“No, not yet. Actually there’s not much to eat at home,” Daniel admits sheepishly, “My folks are overseas for business and Jisung _hyung_ didn’t buy groceries yet. All I have is instant ramen and bread.”

 

“Eat some bread, make toast of something,” Seongwoo urges as he made his way towards one of his go-to restaurants, “Instant noodles are not good for you when you’re sick.”

 

“Aww _hyung_ , were you worried about me?” Daniel teases, Seongwoo could hear blankets rustling as Daniel tosses and turned.

 

“Who’s worried about you?” he shot back, “I just figured if there was an idiot who needs to be reminded not to eat instant food with no nutrition when they’re sick, it’d be you.”

 

“Yes, yes, of course,” Daniel chuckles into the phone, “I’ll be good and eat some bread then.”

 

“I have to go,” Seongwoo stops with his hand on the door handle, “I’ll…I’ll talk to you later?”

 

Neither of them bring up the fact that Seongwoo had been the one to kiss Daniel after his confession last night, nor the fact that Daniel had spent the night in Seongwoo’s bed again, innocent as that action may have been. Seongwoo doesn’t ask Daniel why he had left in the dead of the night and neither does Daniel offer his reasons and the unspoken words hang heavily between them.

 

“Yeah,” Daniel finally responds, “I’ll talk to you later _hyung_.”

 

Seongwoo hangs up and slips the phone back into his pocket before he hesitates and pulls it back out, thumbing over the display thoughtfully. He scrolls through his contacts before coming to a stop over an old name, clicking the call button before he can second-guess himself.

 

The phone rings for several seconds before it connects.

 

“Ongie?”

 

“Hey _hyung_ ,” Seongwoo licks his lips nervously, “Can you text me your address?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Daniel stumbles out of his bed at the sound of the doorbell, dragging his blankets with him in a makeshift cloak and wondering who it was at the door. Flipping the lock, he tugs the door open and then freaks, rubbing his eyes and blinking, not quite believing what he was seeing.

 

“Seongwoo _hyung_?”

 

The older boy shifts on his feet uneasily, lifting a bag of take-out in greeting. “Hey,” he gives Daniel a weak grin, fighting a losing battle against the blush blooming across his cheekbones, “I brought you food.”

 

Stunned but delighted, Daniel backs away from the entrance to let Seongwoo in, the other boy mumbling an apology for intruding as he toes his shoes off and follows Daniel inside. Daniel leads Seongwoo into the living room, setting the take out containers on the dining table before shoving his hands in his pocket and glancing around.

 

“Huh, I forgot how big your place was,” he muses, carefully not making eye contact with the other boy.

 

“It’s too big for four people,” Daniel discloses, untying the plastic bags to poke inside curiously, “I’m glad Jisung _hyung_ is back right now, when it’s just me in here it’s creepy at night. Have you been here before?”

 

“Yeah, like two or three times maybe? Jisungie _hyung_ used to invite us over to play,” Seongwoo pretends he doesn’t notice Daniel twitch at the affectionate way he addresses the younger’s brother, “Did you grow up here?”

 

“Naw,” Daniel opens the containers and crows in delight, reaching into the bag hastily to pull out chopsticks, “We moved here a couple years back? Middle of grade school, I think, when dad’s business really started to take off and bring in the big bucks.”

 

Seongwoo pulls out one of the chairs and pushes Daniel into it so that the other boy wasn’t standing bent over the container and shovelling noodles into his mouth. “Sit down you idiot,” he chides, taking a seat himself and pulling the other portion of noodles towards himself.

 

Daniel just grins at him widely, strands of dough hanging out of his mouth. He sucks them in with a messy slurp and chews them quickly so he can talk, “But I’m _your_ idiot, _hyung_.”

 

Seongwoo rolls his eyes, hiding a pleased grin in his own noodles at the implications in that statement. “Eat your food, you brat,” he grumbles instead.

 

They finish their meal in relative silence, though Daniel proves his slurping is definitely loud enough to echo and Seongwoo scrolls through his phone casually, not thinking about the fact that he’d just invited himself over to Daniel’s house unannounced. Daniel didn’t seem to mind, so it was okay, right?

 

When they’re done their meal, Daniel gets up, ready to abandon their mess but stops when Seongwoo starts to clean up. He hovers for a bit, unsure of what to do, before running over to the kitchen and coming back with a damp cloth to wipe down the dining table. Seongwoo efficiently bags up their garbage, tying up the ends of the plastic bag and then walking over to deposit it at a corner in the front foyer for him to take with him when he leaves.

 

“ _Hyung_!” Daniel trots after him with a pout, “Are you leaving already?”

 

“I just came to make sure you ate,” Seongwoo quips even as he makes no move to leave, “I don’t want to intrude, I kinda did invite myself over.”

 

Daniel takes Seongwoo’s arm and pulls him towards the couch where he had abandoned his blankets earlier. “And now I’m inviting you to stay,” he smiles brightly at Seongwoo, “Want to watch a movie with me?”

 

Seongwoo takes one look at Daniel’s eager face as the younger swings Seongwoo’s arm back and forth with a pleading expression and clambers onto the couch by himself. Daniel follows, bouncing in his spot in excitement, rearranging the blankets around himself and Seongwoo while snuggling up against Seongwoo’s side.

 

“You better not get me sick again,” Seongwoo warns him even though he refrains from actually pulling away.

 

Daniel nuzzles his face into the crook of Seongwoo’s neck, tracing the elegant lines of his jaw with his nose. “No kisses then?” he murmurs into Seongwoo’s ear, delighting in how the soft shell turns pink at his question.

 

Seongwoo’s hand shoots up to clamp over Daniel’s mouth, pushing the other’s face away from him as he turned and glared. “No kisses,” he confirms, “Now pick your damn movie.”

 

In response, Daniel presses a smooch to Seongwoo’s palm cheekily before reaching for the remote to navigate his home theatre system, “Okay~ What do you want to watch, _hyung_?”

 

“Something with a good storyline, maybe a bit touching. Oh, and funny too,” Seongwoo lists off his preferences easily while Daniel’s brow scrunches together in thought, scrolling through the titles.

 

Finally he settles on a drama and clicks play, throwing an arm over Seongwoo and pulling the other boy close to him, “This okay?”

 

“Are we seriously going to watch Goblin?” Seongwoo complains even when he snuggles against Daniel’s arm, “You know it’s impossible to just watch one episode right? You have to keep going; we’ll be here forever.”

 

Daniel turns and presses a kiss to Seongwoo’s temple, “Maybe that’s my master plan, this way you’ll have to stay forever.”

 

Seongwoo groans and shoves weakly at Daniel’s chest, “My god, why are you so cheesy today?”

 

“Because my boyfriend was so worried about me, he came all the way to bring me food,” Daniel sings, and Seongwoo stiffens at the serious undertone to his words, “How can I not be happy? This is just my way of showing it.”

 

“Who’s your boyfriend?” Seongwoo protests half-heartedly, “I don’t date fools.”

 

“But I’m only a fool for you,” Daniel continues, laying it on thick even as Seongwoo makes fake hurling sounds, “That’s okay then, right?”

 

“Shhh!” Seongwoo hushes him instead of answering, “I like this part.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

They spend the rest of their afternoon binging episodes of Goblin until they fall asleep. By the time Jisung comes home with groceries, he finds them curled up around each other on the couch, breathing softly while another episode plays in the background.

 

Jisung smiles fondly at the two younger boys and puts away the groceries, getting started on dinner but not before snapping a couple of pictures on his phone. The door creaks open again and Sungwoon walks in, locking it behind him casually before freezing at the sight of Daniel and Seongwoo on the couch.

 

“Should I go?” he asks hesitantly and Jisung shakes his head, beckoning Sungwoon towards the kitchen.

 

“No, let’s all have dinner together, it’ll be better this way. The house was getting a bit lonely anyways,” he pulls Sungwoon into a quick hug, pressing a kiss to the top of his head with an ease that spoke of familiarity, “Help me with dinner?”

 

Sungwoon takes a deep breath and basks in the sheer domesticity of the scene, “Yeah, sure.”

 

They throw together a couple of simple dishes, fish cake soup, sautéed vegetables, pan-fried pork chops, and kimchi pancakes. The smell is more than enough to wake Seongwoo who untangles himself from Daniel’s grip and makes his way over sleepily.

 

It takes a moment for him to register the fact that his friend just caught him cuddling with his younger brother, and then another moment to realize that Sungwoon was also in the kitchen, in the middle of feeding Jisung a bite of the food. The three of them freeze before making an silent agreement to gloss over things and avoid being awkward.

 

“Do you need any help, _hyung_?” Seongwoo yawns, leaning against the counter.

 

“We’re almost done, but can you set the table?” Jisung asks, gesturing towards the cabinet with all the dishes with a tilt of his head and a raised shoulder, “And then wake Daniel so we can eat.”

 

“Sure,” Seongwoo agrees easily, opening the cupboards and retrieving the bowls and plates from the top shelf with an ease Sungwoon can’t help but envy.

 

He rummages through the drawers for spoons and chopsticks, before carting it all back to the dining area and laying them out quickly. That done, he wanders over to shake Daniel awake.

 

“Hey,” he whispers, “Daniel, wake up. It’s time for dinner and your brother is back.”

 

Daniel bolts upright, muttering blearily as he tries to take in everything at once with half-opened eyes, “Wha-?”

 

Seongwoo snickers and pulls Daniel to his feet, steering him towards the dinning room by the shoulders. Once he’s guided to the table, Daniel sits down heavily in one of the chairs, head plopping down on an empty plate. Jisung rolls his eyes at the sight as he carries the last of the food over.

 

“Pick your face off the plate,” he scolds, poking Daniel in the forehead with a chopstick, “You have to eat off that.”

 

Daniel sits up and then freezes, eyes wide as he comes to the realization that his brother was home and has seen him and Seongwoo together. “ _Hyung_ , you’re back.”

 

“Mmhmm,” Jisung confirms as Daniel states the obvious, “I am indeed. Now eat, you’ll wake up properly once you’ve had some food in you. Did you take your medicine?”

 

“Three hours ago,” Seongwoo answers for him, putting food on Daniel’s plate and then blushing under Jisung’s knowing gaze, “He probably only needs another dose before he sleeps.”

 

“Ah, Ongie,” Jisung coos, “You’re already taking such good care of this foolish brother of mine. Thank you, I can rest easy now.”

 

“Stop acting like you’re my mother, _hyung_ ,” Daniel complains, flicking his eyes towards where Sungwoon was sitting quietly in warning.

 

“It’s just for the week,” Seongwoo mumbles, “And it was partially my fault that he got sick, so.”

 

Daniel can feel the force of Jisung’s glare as the mention of their one-week limit and he shrugs helplessly, _what do you want me to do?_

 

Jisung waits until Seongwoo turns to chat with Sungwoon before mouthing _Tell him! Tell him about Ha Minji and Ha Minho!!!_

 

Daniel stares at where Sungwoon is seated to convey his discomfort in airing his dirty laundry in front of his brother’s on-again, off-again boyfriend and Jisung sighs dramatically. The rest of dinner goes quietly, with all four of them being mostly preoccupied with their food and their thoughts to talk to much, though surprisingly, Seongwoo and Sungwoon chatted the most, gossiping about Taehyun who was Sungwoon’s best friend, and exchanging embarrassing stories about the boy who wasn’t present to defend himself.

 

Seongwoo offers to do the dishes afterwards, earning more praise from Jisung which makes an off-handed comment of his _real_ dongsaeng being useless until Daniel finds himself roped into drying the dishes that Seongwoo was done with. They get through things quickly with two pairs of hands, though they’re quickly ushered to the table once they’re done to munch on crisp, honey-sweet pears Sungwoon had brought over.

 

They chat and banter, Jisung sharing outrageous university stories everyone but Seongwoo has already heard, with both Daniel and Sungwoon accusing him of changing the details to make the retelling even more dramatic. As things wind down though, Seongwoo checks his phone for the time and then stands with a yawn to stretch.

 

“I should get going now,” he announces with a smile, “Thank you for having me. Dinner was delicious _hyung_ ; let me know the next time you’re back in town, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

 

“Will do,” Jisung agrees with a smile, leaning against Sungwoon lazily.

 

Daniel shoots to his feet, “I’ll walk you to the door, _hyung_.”

 

Seongwoo smiles at him and makes his way to the front foyer, waving to Sungwoon and Jisung on his way out. Daniel considers pulling Seongwoo to the side now and explaining everything but thinks better of it when he notices how tired Seongwoo looks despite their little nap in the afternoon.

 

“ _Hyung_ , are you busy tomorrow?”

 

“Mmm, I don’t think I have any plans,” Seongwoo muses, pulling his shoes on, “Why?”

 

“Let’s go out on a date tomorrow? I’ll come pick you up at 11.”

 

Seongwoo pauses and then laughs under his breath, the hollow sound uncomfortable to hear, “That’s right, tomorrow is the last day. Better go out with a bang.”

 

Daniel is silent for a moment, standing here and watching Seongwoo stand with a hand on the doorknob. He walks over until he’s plastered to Seongwoo’s back, his broader figure easily eclipsing Seongwoo’s slighter form. “I meant what I said yesterday,” Daniel whispered into his ear, “I don’t want to walk away after seven days.”

 

Seongwoo stands unmoving for several heartbeats before he turns to face Daniel. “Prove it to me then,” he challenges, “Show me that you’re taking this seriously.”

 

Daniel nods decisively and Seongwoo allows a ghost of a smile to flit across his face. He leans upwards to peck Daniel on the cheek, call it mischief, call it incentive, Seongwoo doesn’t know. “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he says to Daniel’s cheek, “Good night.”

 

Then he’s bending to pick up the bag of trash from the take out earlier and slipping outside through the door.

 

Daniel presses a hand to his cheek and grins like a fool.

 

“Goodnight,” he whispers his reply to the wooden door, “Tomorrow. I’ll see you tomorrow.”


	8. Sunday

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

 

Jisung stared at his brother’s snoring form and then looked at the clock.

 

10:00 AM.

 

“What would he do without me,” he shook his head before reaching out and yanking the blankets out of his brother’s grasp, sending the younger man tumbling off of his bed.

 

“Ow! Wha- _hyung_!” Daniel exclaimed blearily, blinking up from the floor with a scowl.

 

“I’m saving your sorry ass,” Jisung declared, “It’s ten in the morning and you’re supposed to meet Ongie at eleven. Get up before you’re in the dog house again!”

 

“Shit!” Daniel scrambled up from the floor and ran towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

 

Jisung shook his head with another sigh, wandering downstairs in the meantime. Sungwoon was in front of the stove, humming under his breath as he fried up the eggs for breakfast. Jisung smiled softly even as he crept up behind his boyfriend, snaking his arms around him and tucking the shorter boy under his chin.

 

“Get off,” Sungwoon laughed, “You’re going to make me burn the eggs.”

 

“But it’s comfortable!” Jisung complained, “You fit so well; I’m going to miss this when I leave.”

 

Sungwoon falls silent for a moment and then reached out to turn off the stove, plating the eggs absentmindedly before turning in Jisung’s embrace to stare at his boyfriend solemnly. “And when you leave this time, what are we going to be?” he asked softly, “Because I can’t keep doing this back and forth, staying in limbo thing. I can’t.”

 

Jisung winced a bit internally before leaning his head against the other’s. “I know,” he whispered, “and I’m sorry about how things have been up to now. It was my fault, I was afraid of us growing apart after I left for school but I couldn’t bring myself to let you go either and ended up dragging you along.”

 

“It’s not all your fault,” Sungwoon conceded, tugging at the hem of Jisung’s shirt contemplatively, “I should have said something. But I just though even if I could just have you for a little, I would be content. But I’m not, I’m greedy, I want everything.”

 

Jisung pressed a kiss to Sungwoon’s forehead, murmuring his answer against his skin, “ Well, if you still want me after everything, I’m your’s. No more back and forth, just us.”

 

A grin stretched across Sungwoon’s lips slowly and he tilted his head upward, standing on his tiptoes to press a kiss against Jisung’s answering grin. “Okay,” he giggled, “you’re stuck with me now. You’re not allowed to regret this.”

 

They grinned at each other like fools, jolting out of each other’s arms in surprised when Daniel thundered down the stairs. “Glad to see you guys made up! I’m leaving, bye _hyung_ , Sungwoon _hyung_!”

 

They watched as Daniel practically tripped out of the front foyer, slamming the door behind him.

 

“Aish, that brat,” Jisung sighed, pulling back to pinch the bridge of his nose, “Keep an eye on him for me?”

 

“Nope,” Sungwoon declared cheerfully, turning away to retrieve their breakfast, “I’ve got my _own_ Kang-Yoon to deal with, Seongwoo can deal with that one.”

 

“Hey!” Jisung protested, before yielding with a reluctant smile, “but yeah, I guess you’re right, Ongie will have his hands full but at least Daniel will be in good hands.”

 

* * *

 

Seongwoo pulls his door open with a teasing grin before Daniel can finish knocking, having heard the other boy coming from a mile away with the way the stomped up the stairs and down the corridor. “One minute to eleven,” he announced, “You’re cutting it close.”

 

Daniel doubled over to gasp for breath, “I’m not late Seongwoo _hyung_ , you can’t get mad at me this time!”

 

“No,” Seongwoo allowed, amusement colouring his voice, “You’re not. Aren’t you glad I texted Jisung _hyung_ to remind him to kick you out of bed?”

 

Daniel’s head snapped up so quickly Seongwoo could hear his neck crack, “What?!”

 

The older boy laughed, linking arms with a baffled Daniel and pulling him away from the door, “ _Hyung_ told me that you have a habit of getting too excited to sleep if you’re anticipating something, then falling asleep late, and then subsequently oversleeping. I figured I’d buy myself some insurance. Did you come on your bike?”

 

“Yeah,” Daniel grinned once he got over his surprise, rather pleased that Seongwoo had the foresight to research and remedy Daniel’s bad habits, “You liked it last time?”

 

Seongwoo shrugged noncommittally, the motion bringing Daniel’s arm up with it, “It’s nice, feeling the wind race past; almost like flying. So where are we going today?”

 

“It’s a surprise,” Daniel proclaims, leading Seongwoo over to the bike and handing him the spare helmet.

 

Seongwoo gives Daniel a measuring look and before donning the helmet, “I’ll be expecting something good then.”

 

“Ah _hyung_ ,” Daniel complained, “that’s too much pressure.”

 

“You could just tell me,” the older teased, “but since you’re not. Well then, surprises should always been good, or they’re not worth doing.”

 

Daniel swung his leg over the motorcycle and then waited for Seongwoo to get on behind him, “So demanding.”

 

“What, did you think I was easy?” Seongwoo quipped with a laugh, wiggling around to get comfortable behind Daniel.

 

The younger boy fired up the engine and then pulled out of the parking lot, Seongwoo’s arms snug around his waist. He pushes the upper limit of the speed limit, weaving in and out of traffic skilfully as Seongwoo crowed his delight from behind.

 

Daniel takes a ramp onto a highway and then they’re really flying down the roads; it’s a longer drive than Seongwoo expected but the scenery is lovely, they race along the shoreline and then slowly buildings fade out from view and give way to trees. They slow back down to city limits; the buildings they pass now are smaller, quaintly designed, and Seongwoo wishes he could whip his helmet off and breath in the fresh air.

 

They pull to a stop outside of a restaurant and clamber off, shaking out stiff limbs from the almost hour-long drive. Daniel takes Seongwoo by the hand, lacing their fingers together and looking to the older boy for confirmation that this was okay; Seongwoo squeezes Daniel’s hand and smile, gesturing for him to lead the way, which he does happily.

 

The staff greeted them brightly, addressing Daniel warmly and remarking how good it was to see him again before leading them to a table on the patio. Stepping out after the hostess, Seongwoo stops for a moment in awe of the view the restaurant overlooked, rich foliage off the side of a mountain.

 

He sits down, still craning his head around to take everything in. “So I take it you like it then?” Daniel asked smugly.

 

“It’s gorgeous,” Seongwoo breathed, “Do you take all your dates here to wow them with this view?”

 

Daniel frowned, reaching across the table to clasp Seongwoo’s hand in his. “No one else,” he intones, “Just you. I haven’t even brought my family to this place.”

 

Seongwoo fights down a blush, turning a pleased cat-got-the-canary grin to Daniel, “Good. Let’s order, I’m famished. What’s good?”

 

They end up ordering almost more food than their table can hold, feasting on pasta and salad, ripping into flatbread fresh from the stone oven inside. Conversation flows easily now that Seongwoo drops his guard and Daniel isn’t stammering over every other sentence trying to gauge the right thing to say. They’re laughing over a story Seongwoo tells of Minhyun breaking into the dorm room he shared with Jaehwan to force the second year to clean after learning of his atrocious hygiene habits when Daniel suddenly lurches sideways in his chair, screaming.

 

“Get it away, get it away, get it away!” he yelps while Seongwoo reaches over frantically to support Daniel and stop him from toppling over altogether.

 

“What? What is it?” Seongwoo asked, eyes darting around frantically.

 

“Bee!” Daniel shrieks, bolting out of his chair and huddling against the railing, awkwardly trying to fold his larger frame behind two centimetres of wrought iron.

 

Seongwoo doesn’t even have time to laugh at his futile attempts, shooting up from his seat as well and flapping his arms around like a madman trying to shoo away the demonic source of buzzing. He runs over to huddle behind Daniel and the two of them cringe from side to side, not even finding it in them to be embarrassed when a waitress who must have been half their height comes out and calmly waves the bee away for them.

 

They settle back down a little sheepishly, grinning at each other for their reactions and then finishing their meal in a hurry to avoid having to stay in the open for any longer in case the bees came back with a vengeance. When the bill came, Seongwoo snatched it out of Daniel’s hands despite his protests.

 

“You paid for everything last time, so this time it’s my turn,” he insisted, handing the necessary amount to their waitress and settled back to wait for the change, “You can pay next time we go out.”

 

Daniel turns expectant eyes towards Seongwoo, asking hopefully, “Next time?”

 

Seongwoo hesitates for a moment, lips twisting. “If there is a next time,” he corrects, pretending not to see how Daniel wilts a little.

 

They take their leave soon after, thanking the staff for the great food and excellent service before making their way back to the city on Daniel’s bike. They spend the rest of their day checking out small shops tucked around corners or hidden between buildings, determined to find a hidden gem. All they get for their trouble are a couple of dusty records, though Seongwoo does end up buying an older limited edition of a one of Minhyun’s favourite novels, with the intention of saving it for Christmas.

 

Daniel suggests going to an arcade and they race through, challenging each other at everything, both stubbornly unwilling to back down from challenges. There’s no clear winner but they’re forced to stop when their stomach protest the lack of food. Not really feeling like sitting down, they instead chose to eat their way through every street stall they pass.

 

They finish up the ten skewers that Daniel had insisted on buying because it was a deal, not that it was too much of an impossibility given the black hole that Daniel had in place of a stomach. They rinse off their hands in the fountain of a park they pass and then Daniel laces their fingers together again even as Seongwoo grimaces at the dampness between their skin though he doesn’t pull away.

 

The silence between them is comfortable but reality lingers on the edges of their man made dream, filled with all the things left unsaid. It takes another ten minutes of silent strolling before Daniel works up the courage to bite the bullet.

 

“ _Hyung_ , you know, I never meant to end up in this one week dating business,” he admits quietly, “It was just, in my first year, there was a girl who confessed to me and I was so flustered I said yes, not wanting to hurt her feelings. I went home and freaked out to Jisung _hyung_ about what I should do because I didn’t actually want to date her, and he scolded me and then told me to go set things straight with her. It took me a while but after a week, I asked her to break it off.”

 

Seongwoo stays quiet, thumb rubbing at the back of Daniel’s hand in encouragement, waiting for him to finish his story.

 

“She didn’t take it well, started screaming, accused me of playing with her feelings and then ran away crying to her brother. I’ll admit, I didn’t handle it the best way, but I was young and inexperienced; I’d never dated before and no one had ever confessed to me before I looked like less of a nerd. Her brother roped his friends into spreading a rumour about me dating people for a week, like some sort of trial boyfriend, as revenge I guess, I still don’t quite get why he did it. I didn’t even know until the next time I agreed to someone who asked me out and then they broke up with me at the end of the week. That seemed to cement the rumour for everyone else and-”

 

He laughs sheepishly, shrugging helplessly and fiddling with his earrings with his free hand, “Jisung _hyung_ tells me I’m this odd mix of absent-minded inconsideration and not being able to tell people no. I guess that’s how it got to where we are today.”

 

Seongwoo hummed lightly under his breath, coming to a stop and pulling Daniel with him.

 

“So, when I asked you out, you just went along with it?”

 

“No!” Daniel protests, “Well, I mean, technically yes. But I really like you _hyung_ , I’ve admired you for a long time. I was so happy when it was you who asked me.”

 

“What did you like about me?” Seongwoo asks, curious yet scared of the answer.

 

“I like how you stand up for others,” Daniel starts to list off without hesitation, “I like how you’re not afraid to speak your mind. I like how you pretend not to care but still take such good care of your _dongsaengs_. I like how you work hard at everything you take seriously, but how you’re also silly and not afraid to let people have a laugh at your own expense.”

 

He tugs on their connected hands and smiles shyly at the ground, "I like how focused you are when you're dancing and teaching, watching you, seeing that passion, it's entrancing. When you're caught up in that moment and you smile, even when it's not at me, I can't take my eyes off you _hyung_."

 

Seongwoo is blushing furiously at Daniel's words, he tries to pull his hand back to cover his face which feels like it's on fire but Daniel doesn’t let go. He pulls Seongwoo closer until they're face to face, catching the other's eyes. 

 

"Hyung, does that answer your question?"

 

"Y-Yes," Seongwoo finds himself stammering.

 

He takes a fortifying breath and looks around, the street lamps are lit and night has taken over the sky, blanketing their surroundings in a midnight velvet. He can hear the singing of the last of the crickets, tries to focus on that instead of his racing heart. Daniel's hands tightening around his draws him back into the present. 

 

" _Hyung_?" Daniel shifts nervously when Seongwoo meets his eyes again but remains silent. 

 

"Daniel-ah, how does this usually end?"

 

"What?" Daniel asks weakly, clutching at Seongwoo's hands. 

 

Seongwoo glances around pointedly, "This should account for a full week now, right?"

 

"....yeah."

 

"Good," Seongwoo declared decisively, "Then I declare this week long relationship officially over. I just have one question for you Daniel."

 

Daniel stares at Seongwoo, feeling the cold of the night air seep into him, filling him with autumn and its decay, the start of the death of beautiful things. He waits and wonders if Seongwoo's words will bring winter to his soul. 

 

Seongwoo lifts Daniel's hands to his mouth and presses a kiss to trembling fingers. "Kang Daniel, will you go out with me? Not for a week but for forever or however long you'll have me, will you let me call you mine? You've brought joy and spontaneity into my life; you've reminded me that there's more to living than just pushing forward all the time. You make me want to smile, make me want to laugh with you beside me for a very long time, until we have laugh lines and wrinkles. So.

 

"Will you be my boyfriend for real?"

 

The smile that blossoms across Daniel's face is sunlight itself; it seeps its way down his bones and washes over his skin, happiness glowing out of every pore. He surges forward to throw his arms around Seongwoo’s shoulders, his laugh colours the air with delight. 

 

"Yes!" he laughs into the crook of the older boy's neck, "You scared me _hyung_ , that was so mean..."

 

Seongwoo turns his head to press a kiss against Daniel's cheek, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just wanted to ask you properly; not as a joke, not out of curiosity, not a whim, but because we wanted this together."

 

"Ahhh, who's the cheesy one now, _hyung_?"

 

Seongwoo chuckles and then gives in to his urge to pepper kisses all over Daniel's skin. "You're stuck with me now," he breaths, "you said yes, you can't change your mind in a week."

 

Daniel turns to kiss Seongwoo properly, a gentle press of lips that lingers, a kiss they can't help but smile into. 

 

"You know that means I won, right _hyung_?"

 

"Won?" Seongwoo pulls back with a frown.

 

"Yes, won," he repeats smugly, "I got you to fall in love with me in a week. I won."

 

Seongwoo scoffs, "Who's in love with you?"

 

"You said you wanted forever!" Daniel protests. 

 

Seongwoo swooped in to silence Daniel with another kiss. "Well," he murmurs against his boyfriend's lips (Boyfriend. He can say that for real now).

 

"You have every week after this to convince me, don't you?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're done! 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who supported this project and for all the kind comments. I really appreciated each and every one of them, and I hope you all liked this story. 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this, challenging as it was, and I do apologize for breaking the one chapter a day updating schedule I initially promised. I'm actually finishing this whIle waiting for my flight so I apologize for any typos; it's hard to type/edit on my phone.
> 
> Thank you all and hope to see you soon (:

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who might be confused, I played around with the ages of the characters to group them into the 'year' I need them to be. Honestly, it was hard compressing everyone into high school ages given that there's a whopping 15 year difference between the youngest and eldest Produce 101 participants. Granted, not everyone is going to appear, but still. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed that, let me know what you think about this week-long project, and I hope to see you all tomorrow!


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